Jared Kushner Swore At Israel’s Ambassador For Acting Like He Owned The Place
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Jared Kushner on June 21, 2017 in Jerusalem, Israel. Image by GPO
One of presidential advisor/son-in-law Jared Kushner’s responsibilities has been pursuing a Middle East peace plan. And while Kushner has long expressed sympathy for Israel — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once slept in his bedroom — relations haven’t always been smooth.
Kushner used profanity to scold Israeli ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer for being too heavy-handed in his dealings with the White House.
On February 13, 2017, the day that Michael Flynn was forced out as national-security adviser, Dermer reportedly went to the White House to try to arrange for Trump to sign secret documents, as other presidents had done, which the Israelis saw as an American commitment not to ask them to give up their undeclared nuclear arsenal. Dermer asked to meet privately with Flynn, prompting aides to explain that he could not dictate whom he wanted to meet with. Advisers felt like they were being taken advantage of.
At one point, in front of witnesses, Kushner swore at Dermer in his West Wing office, saying he wasn’t going to do his bidding just because of his Jewish background. “You’re not going to tell us how to run these things,” he told Dermer. “Don’t try to push us around. Don’t try to jam us.”
Dermer told the New Yorker that he didn’t remember Kushner using that language, saying, “I have a very good relationship with Jared, but we don’t always agree on everything.”
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at fisher@forward.com, or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher
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