Jared Kushner’s work to develop the Abraham Accords has earned him his second nomination for a Nobel Peace Prize. Kushner worked in the ad...
Jared Kushner’s work to develop the Abraham Accords has earned him his second nomination for a Nobel Peace Prize.
Kushner worked in the administration of his father-in-law, former President Donald Trump, and devoted an extensive part of his work to bringing together partners to develop the Abraham Accords.
The accords normalized relations between Israel and four majority Arab nations — the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Morocco and Bahrain.
Kushner, who is married to the former president’s daughter, Ivanka, was nominated by Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York, according to the New York Post. Zeldin also nominated Kushner’s deputy, Avi Berkowitz.
“The Abraham Accords, signed in 2020, represent the most significant diplomatic breakthrough between Israel and Arab nations in decades,” Zeldin wrote in his nomination.
“Against the background of a centuries-old conflict and the COVID-19 pandemic, rising tensions and Iran’s growing influence, Kushner and Berkowitz successfully brought together regional leaders and forged regional alliances better capable of countering Iran’s malign influence.”
Kushner and Berkowitz were nominated for the Peace Prize last year by legal scholar Alan Dershowitz.
Kushner, a former resident of New York City, has since relocated to Miami after leaving Washington when the Trump administration ended.
Kushner said he was “humbled” by being nominated.
“Thanks to the visionary leaders and efforts of millions of Israelis and Arabs, the Abraham Accords continue to strengthen, making the Middle East — and the world — a safer, more prosperous place,” he told the Post.
The former president was also nominated for the Peace Prize, including once for the Abraham Accords.
In assessing the impact of the Abraham Accords one year after implementation, the Wilson Center noted that they have helped change attitudes in the Middle East.
“One of the most important outcomes of the Abraham Accords is the change in people-to-people relationships between the signatory countries. This last year has seen a blossoming of bilateral initiatives within the private sector and civil society, signaling approval of leaders’ decisions,” the Wilson Center noted on its website.
“The geopolitical and economic benefits will have spillover effects across the region, and possibly the world. The Accords establish a foundation for peace and collaboration that can be tapped into by any country interested in cooperation,” it continued.
In observing the one-year anniversary of the signing of the accords, Kushner noted that the accords were a beginning that must be followed up by hard work to achieve their potential
“If these [normalization] agreements are not nurtured, we run the risk that they could go backward, but if we nourish them properly, the potential for what can come from them is enormous and beyond our expectations,” Kushner said, according to the Times of Israel.
The Nobel Peace Prize has been won by Americans in the past including former Presidents Barack Obama, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Jimmy Carter. The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was awarded the Peace Prize in 1964 for his leadership of the Civil Rights Movement, as was Gen. George Marshall in 1953 for the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after World War II.
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