Did Ron Dermer Get Jared Kushner In Trouble?
Ron Dermer Image by Getty Images
By Nathan Guttman December 4, 2017
Could the source of trouble now shaking Trump’s inner circle be the Israeli ambassador to the United States?
On Friday, former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI on two conversations he had with Russia’s ambassador to Washington Sergey Kislyak. In one of them, Flynn asked the Russians to help block an upcoming United Nations Security Council vote condemning Israel’s settlement policy. Flynn, who is now cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, said he was ordered to do so by “very high level” officials in the Trump transition team and news reports shortly after pointed to Jared Kushner as the senior official behind the initiative.
All this was done at Israel’s request, as confirmed Monday by the Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer.
In an interview with Susan Glasser in Politico Dermer said he had personally urged the Trump team to lobby foreign governments in an effort to table the resolution. “We reached out to them in the hope that they would help us avert what would be bad for Israel and bad for the United States,” Dermer said.
The potential legal questions arising from this move could relate to the Logan Act which prohibits unauthorized people to conduct foreign policy negotiations, and on the question whether Kushner revealed all the information about his involvement in this talks.
Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
