Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior envoy, is expected to arrive in Israel next week for high-level meetings focused on the future of Gaza, according to five sources familiar with the plans who spoke to Axios on Thursday.
The trip will be Kushner’s first official visit to Israel since January and comes as the Trump administration and the Board of Peace intensify efforts to implement the next phase of their Gaza initiative, which calls for Hamas to be disarmed and for Israel to eventually withdraw military forces under a structured framework.
While Washington and Yerushalayim remain aligned on the broader objective, Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu’s government has expressed significant reservations about key elements of the American proposal.
“We see eye-to-eye on the strategic goal, but Israel has expressed some doubts about the plan and we want to talk to them in order to make sure we are coordinated,” a U.S. official told Axios, noting that Kushner’s travel schedule has not yet been finalized and could still change.
The visit follows Trump’s announcement two weeks ago that the Board of Peace had reached an understanding with Hamas under which the terror group would surrender its weapons and transfer both security responsibilities and civilian governance in Gaza to a newly established Palestinian technocratic administration.
Although Netanyahu publicly rejected that demilitarization framework on Sunday, the statement came after a private phone conversation with Kushner several days earlier. According to a U.S. official, Netanyahu agreed during that call to allow the initiative to move forward despite his concerns and pledged to limit Israeli military operations in Gaza to create conditions for the disarmament process to begin.
Officials within the administration believe Netanyahu’s public criticism is aimed primarily at Israel’s domestic political audience rather than signaling a genuine break with the U.S. plan.
“We understand Bibi’s political needs. We have no problem with it as long as he continues to do what we ask – especially regarding restraining attacks in Gaza,” a senior U.S. official told Axios.
In the wake of those discussions, the IDF reportedly reduced the pace of its operations in Gaza and repositioned troops to the agreed-upon “Yellow Line” established under the framework.
Kushner is expected to travel with Nickolay Mladenov, who serves as the Board of Peace’s appointed high representative for Gaza. The two are scheduled to hold talks with Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials and may also travel to additional countries in the region to meet with leaders involved in shaping Gaza’s future.
Behind closed doors, U.S. officials are working to prevent Israel’s election campaign from slowing implementation of the next stage of the Gaza roadmap. At the same time, Netanyahu is attempting to navigate the political pressures of the election season without creating a direct confrontation with Trump ahead of the vote.
“The elections are making everyone hysterical,” a U.S. official said in describing the current political climate.
Kushner and Mladenov’s primary goal is to reach a practical understanding with Netanyahu on how Gaza will be administered in the months ahead.
“We are not rushing into anything here. We want to make sure all steps in Gaza are being done properly,” another U.S. official said, adding, “We think our plan is better than the alternative.”
{Matzav.com}
