Jared Kushner Remains Full of Praise for Mohammed bin Salman, His Problematic Fave
Many words could be used to describe Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. Dangerous. Authoritarian. The man who US intelligence concluded approved the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was kidnapped, murdered, and dismembered by bone saw in 2018. But for Jared Kushner, there is just one: visionary.
Asked about Khashoggis murder at the Axios BFD conference on Tuesday, Kushner initially responded with exasperationapparently, hes so over this topicreportedly saying, Are we really still doing this? Then he claimed to have not seen the US intelligence report released in 2021 that concluded MBS had approved the gruesome killing, and insisted that, in his experience, MBS is a great guy. Maybe even the greatest!
I know the person who I dealt with, Kushner said of the crown prince, according to Axios. I think hes a visionary leader. I think what hes done in that region is transformational. And MBSs buddy boy didnt stop there. I think hes done a lot of things that are in Americas interest, Kushner added. And I think hes done a lot of things that have made the world a better place. Does he understand why people are upset about Khashoggis killing? Sure. Does he think what happened there [to Khashoggi] was absolutely horrific? Yes. But our job, he told Axioss Dan Primack, was to represent America, to try to push forward things in America.
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As for the $2 billion the main Saudi sovereign wealth fund deposited into Kushners investment firm not long after he left the White Housedespite the panel that performs due diligence for the Saudi fund concluding it was a terrible ideathe former first son-in-law insisted there were absolutely no conflicts of interest there. If you ask me about the work that that we did in the White House, for my critics, what I say is, point to a single decision we made that wasnt in the interest of America, Kushner said. And there you have it!
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/jared-kushner-mohammed-bin-salman-visionary-leader
Former Presidential Advisor Jared Kushner Discusses Israel-Hamas War at Harvard Kennedy School
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Giving them a Palestinian state is basically a reinforcement of, Were going to reward you for bad actions, he said. You have to show terrorists that they will not be tolerated, that we will take strong action.
Kushner blamed political leaders in Palestine for stalling American-led efforts to improve Gazas economic and political state.
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Kushner was particularly critical of Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the State of Palestine and Palestinian National Authority, who he called a broken record.
But Kushner praised both his own track record in the Middle East which he called second to none and the Saudi government, saying that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was instrumental in efforts to turn the tide in the Middle East.
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https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2024/2/16/jared-kushner-harvard-event/
The moral of that story kids is
don't reward bad behavior....unless it comes with 2 billion dollars.