Jared Kushner set to double stake in leading Israeli financial firm
Israeli regulators approved the deal just days before Kushner’s father-in-law, Donald Trump, will return to the White House
Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump in Miami Beach, Florida, May 2, 2024. (MEGA/GC Images)
(JTA) — Jared Kushner is set to double his investment firm’s stake in one of Israel’s leading financial firms, just days before his father-in-law, Donald Trump, will return to the White House.
Israeli regulators have allowed Kushner’s Affinity Partners to buy an additional 4.95% of Phoenix Financial, Bloomberg News reported. Phoenix, founded shortly after Israel’s establishment, is one of the country’s leading insurance companies. Kushner’s firm, which is based in Miami, where he lives, would then own nearly 10% of the company, after buying an initial stake last year.
Phoenix’s stock has spiked after Kushner’s initial purchase, which he has framed as a vote of confidence in the Israeli economy as the country fights a long multi-front war that has been a drain on its coffers and workforce.
“Investing in Phoenix in July 2024 was a decision rooted in my belief in Israel’s resiliency and the fundamentals of Phoenix’s business,” Kushner told Bloomberg. “Six months later, the increased value of our shares, reaffirms my conviction — both in Israel’s strength and the growing promise of Phoenix.”
Kushner served as a senior adviser to Trump during his first term in office and took point on a number of his father-in-law’s initiatives in the Middle East, including brokering the normalization deals between Israel and four Arab countries known as the Abraham Accords. Shortly after Trump left office, a fund led by the Saudi crown prince invested $2 billion in Kushner’s newly-founded firm, which was later subject to a Senate investigation.
Neither Kushner nor his wife, Ivanka Trump, took an active role in Trump’s 2024 campaign, and neither has been named to a post in the incoming White House. But Kushner may remain an adviser on Middle East issues.
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
