Kushner's financial stakes in Israeli defence firms raises conflict of interest concerns: Report

Kushner's financial stakes in Israeli defence firms raises conflict of interest concerns: Report Submitted by MEE staff on Thu, 10/01/2026 - 17:52 Kushner's Gulf-backed investment firm has a stake in an Israeli company with extensive holdings in Israeli arms makers Trump's son-in-law and envoy Jared Kushner speaks at a 'Board of Peace' briefing on 23 September 2026 in New York City (Ryan Murphy/Getty Images/AFP) Off US envoy Jared Kushner’s investment firm, Affinity Partners, has the largest stake in an Israeli company invested in more than half a dozen defence companies that have supplied munitions and armaments for the genocide in Gaza and wars on Lebanon, Syria and Iran, according to a report by CNN.

The revelation not only means that Kushner has profited from wars he is officially tapped to negotiate as US President Donald Trump’s envoy, but it means Gulf states including Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar are invested through Kushner’s firm in companies that Israel is using to wage war on Gaza and other Arab states.

Kushner does not have an official position in the US government and is therefore not required to disclose his finances.

Kushner’s link to Israeli defence firms started in 2024 with a $128.5m investment in Phoenix Financial.

The company is one of Israel’s largest financial groups, with interests spanning insurance, pensions and asset management.

Kushner doubled his stake in Phoenix in January 2025, just five days before Trump was sworn into office. Kushner’s Affinity Partners is Phoenix’s largest shareholder.

CNN found that Phoenix has invested at least $456m in nine companies linked to Israel’s defence sector. Phoenix’s investment in Elbit Systems alone totals at least $265.1m.

Elbit Systems is Israel’s largest arms manufacturer.

In the last year alone, Elbit has won millions of dollars in contracts from Israel’s defence ministry, including about $200m for advanced airborne munitions and $48m for thousands of 155mm artillery shells.

Elbit’s weapons systems have been traced back to the killings of Palestinians in Gaza, Middle East Eye and other news outlets have reported.

Phoenix has also invested at least $68m in Next Vision, a company that makes cameras for military drones; at least $55m in Bet Shemesh, a company producing engines for Israeli warplanes; and at least $40m in Reshef Technologies, which produces electronic fuses for artillery shells.

Bet Reshef has reported $165 m worth of orders from the Israeli military since the start of the genocide in Gaza.

Phoenix also has stakes in bigger companies that have been linked to Israel’s expanding occupation of the West Bank and destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza, such as Caterpillar, a US publicly listed company.

Other companies linked to Israel’s military in which Phoenix has stakes include Israeli Shipyards and Boeing. Affinity's 'best investment' Kushner himself has described Phoenix as Affinity’s “best investment”.

In January, Affinity cashed out a third of its stake in Phoenix, raking in $340m. Affinity is still the largest shareholder of Phoenix with a 7.4 percent stake worth more than $1bn, CNN reported.

Return of Jared Kushner: Netanyahu's friend and Gulf business ally reappears for Gaza talks Read More » Kushner’s lawyers told CNN he never told Phoenix where to invest, but Kushner told Forbes in September 2025 that he had “a very active dialogue” with Phoenix and met regularly with its leadership.

Kushner was the force behind the Abraham Accords, through which Bahrain, Morocco and the UAE established official relations with Israel in 2020 during the first Trump administration.

Kushner has talked about using investment to “incentivise” Muslim and Arab countries to normalise with Israel. Yet for the most part, Affinity Partners seems to have worked the other way around.

Affinity Partners reported more than $6.1bn in assets in April 2026 and said about 99 percent of those assets belonged to non-US investors.

The only known investors are Arab Gulf states. Saudi Arabia bankrolled the fund after the first Trump administration, investing $2bn from its sovereign wealth fund.

Qatar and the UAE added an additional $1.5bn in 2024.

Kushner was the main architect behind Gaza's "recovery" plan, which envisions turning the enclave into a tourist hub, a "Gaza Riviera" as it was termed when initial plans were leaked.

Kushner is also an executive member of Trump's "Board of Peace", which is charged with mediating the ceasefire in Israel's war on Gaza and is responsible for rebuilding the enclave.

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