Jared Kushner: Israel, Palestine, Hamas, Gaza, Iran, and the Middle East | Lex Fridman Podcast #399

Recorded across two sessions bracketing the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, the conversation opens with Kushner's reaction to the assault and his argument that Hamas, not Israel, is the chief obstacle to Palestinian flourishing. He then traces how the Trump administration pressured Iran, eliminated the ISIS caliphate, and brokered six normalization deals via the Abraham Accords. The bulk of the episode is a deep dive into Kushner's negotiation philosophy: building trust, working backward from a first-principles outcome, and creating a 'golden bridge' for reluctant leaders. He shares behind-the-scenes stories from North Korea back channels, Saudi Arabia and MBS, China and Xi Jinping, and the Russia-collusion investigation, plus personal reflections on his father's imprisonment and the books that shaped his thinking.

• Claims the Obama-era deal put Iran on a 'glide path' to a nuclear weapon with $150 billion that funded Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.
  00:09:24
• Asserts with 'absolute certainty' that the October 7 attack never would have happened if Trump were still president.
  00:36:22
• Reveals a back channel to North Korea was opened through an old business contact, leading to the Trump-Kim meeting.
  01:16:09
• Says the Abraham Accords' opening move was a single phone call between Trump, Netanyahu, and MBZ.
  01:23:28
• Trump told King Salman to route Saudi dealings through Kushner because his own cabinet didn't believe in MBS.
  02:22:30
• Calls UNRWA 'incredibly corrupt' and argues a permanent refugee organization was created to perpetuate the conflict.
  02:49:32
• Responds directly to criticism over the Saudi PIF's $2 billion investment in his firm, saying he broke no laws or ethics rules.
  02:59:29
• States '100%' that the war in Ukraine would have been avoided had Trump remained president.
  03:08:18

• The First Step Act dropped recidivism for program participants to 12% versus a 47% federal average.
  02:01:45
• In Obama's last year, the private sector spent 6 million man-hours complying with new federal regulations.
  01:31:14
• Kushner says the administration built about 470 miles of border barrier in roughly two years.
  01:29:11
• The USMCA covered about $1.3 trillion in annual trade between the US, Mexico, and Canada.
  01:07:49
• Sanctions cut Iran's oil sales from ~2.6 million barrels per day to about 100,000 under Trump.
  00:31:08
• Kushner helped broker the largest oil-production cut in history during the COVID demand collapse.
  03:15:26
• On a call, Trump told Trudeau the Canadians burned down the White House in 1812 to deflect tariff complaints.
  03:07:15
• MBS told Kushner he sets 100 goals expecting to fail at 50, so he still accomplishes 50 things.
  01:18:14
• Kushner cites West Bank GDP per capita as comparable to Jordan's and higher than Egypt's circa 2019.
  02:46:57
• The famous 'KUSHNER' bulletproof-vest photo came from an unplanned trip to Iraq with Gen. Dunford.
  03:35:39

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