Kushner On Middle East Peace: "What Do We Offer That's Unique? I Don't Know."

[demmiblue]

Source: Wired

On Monday, White House senior advisor Jared Kushner spoke to a group of congressional interns as part of an ongoing, off-the-record summer lecture series. During the question-and-answer portion of the event, Kushner may have inadvertently offered some insight into the negotiating tactics he is using in the Middle East.

Prior to Kushner's talk, Katie Patru, the deputy staff director for Member Services, Outreach & Communications, told the assembled interns, "To record today’s session would be such a breach of trust, from my opinion. This town is full of leakers and everyone knows who they are, and no one trusts them. In this business your reputation is everything, I’ve been on the hill for 15 years. I’ve sat in countless meetings with members of congress where important decisions were being made. During all those years in all those meetings, I never once leaked to a reporter. …. If someone in your office has asked you to break our protocol and give you a recording so they can leak it, as a manager, that bothers me at my core."

WIRED has obtained a recording of Kushner's talk, which lasted for just under an hour in total.

...

Finally, Kushner closed with the following statement of reassurance: "So, what do we offer that's unique? I don’t know… I’m sure everyone that’s tried this has been unique in some ways, but again we’re trying to follow very logically. We're thinking about what the right end state is. And we’re trying to work with the parties very quietly to see if there's a solution. And there may be no solution, but it’s one of the problem sets that the president asked us to focus on. So we’re going to focus on it and try to come to the right conclusion in the near future."

Read more: https://www.wired.com/story/jared-kushner-middle-east

[forgotmylogin]

1. This made me spit my tea on my keyboard:

"To record today’s session would be such a breach of trust, from my opinion. …. If someone in your office has asked you to break our protocol and give you a recording so they can leak it, as a manager, that bothers me at my core."

WIRED has obtained a recording of Kushner's talk, which lasted for just under an hour in total.

Finally, Kushner closed with the following statement of reassurance: "So, what do we offer that's unique? I don’t know… I’m sure everyone that’s tried this has been unique in some ways, but again we’re trying to follow very logically. We're thinking about what the right end state is. And we’re trying to work with the parties very quietly to see if there's a solution. And there may be no solution, but it’s one of the problem sets that the president asked us to focus on. So we’re going to focus on it and try to come to the right conclusion in the near future."

"We're unique like everyone else. We don't know what's right, so we're focusing on stuff."

[MBS]

7. Those were also my very favorite parts

. . .with the same reaction. In my case, though, it was bits of a burrito.

What a circus.

[syringis]

15. In my case...

...it is coffee. Either on keybord and screen.

I wish we could do something for you dear american friends and help you to get rid of that chaotic circus before those guys turns your country into a giant asylum

We can just give a moral support and assure you that a lot of people abroad, absolutly distinguish between you and the trump's imbeciles club.

[forgotmylogin]

16. Thank you!

I know it's easy to buy into the "ugly American" stereotype.

[syringis]

20. I'm not

fond of stereotype nor a buyer

In my eyes, America is still a great nation with strong values.

It is disheartening to watch helplessly to this pathetic buffon shredding the dignity and the credibility of his position

[calimary]

21. Welcome to DU, syringis! Wish you could, too!

I wish you could do something to help us get rid of Captain Chaos and his merry wrecking crew.

We take some comfort in knowing that most observers aren't fooled. But we have way too many here in this country who are. And they're dragging all the rest of us, and our beloved country, right down the drain with them.

[elehhhhna]

27. He sounds stupid as his father-in-law

[appleannie1943]

2. Hey Jared, we already knew you don't know a damn thing about what you are doing.

[SweetieD]

3. He sounds completely ignorant. Only in that job because of his background.

[Moostache]

29. Only in that position because of blind nepotism and incompetence...

His background has jack all to do with anything...that is a man with less life experience than any 35-ish year old I can imagine...born and raised in wealth and privilege, never associating with or deigning to be near the unwashed masses,

An out-of-touche, effete naive in charge of solving the opioid epidemic? Wanna bet this will sound a like "Just say no, 2.0"?
A family-friend of Netanyahu talking down to the Palestinians? What could possibly go wrong there?

I can't take any more of this kind of incompetent bullshit...he is clearly unqualified to handle even ONE (pick ANY of them) of the tasks he is supposedly 'solving'. At this rate, Trump could have a better team by randomly selecting people out of the Manhattan phone directory...and that INCLUDES the ones that have passed on.

[DK504]

4. Sorry little Lord Fauntleroy and Communications fuck offs.

Having a BASIC meeting, with INTERNS, no less must be recorded. ZERO state secrets would have disclosed to INTERNS, like they will come up with ANY damn ideas for Middle East peace. WTF? Exactly when did the little shit become a foriegn policy expert or have a masters in international studies?

What was the purpose of this time wasting meeting? Other than showing what an idiot he is.

[flor-de-jasmim]

26. Hey! As a descendant of Little Lord Fauntleroy, I object to the comparison!

But I understand the folklore behind the sentiment.

[mobeau69]

5. This is pretty funny.

This bozo is going to solve the Palestinian-Israeli dispute?

[elehhhhna]

28. Yeah cause he's good friends with bibi netinYahoo who is totally not crazy not at all

[Moostache]

30. I took away the image of a man who would struggle to find his ass with both hands...

There may never have been a less qualified person put in charge of anything....and he is supposedly in charge of many things...depression deepens once more...

[neohippie]

6. Jared Kushner perhaps you could stop funding settlements in the West Bank

It's going to be difficult for you to create peace when your actions work against one of the biggest issues being pushed by one side

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-kushner-idUSKBN15G4W2

Wasel Abu Youssef, a senior official at the Palestine Liberation Organisation, the main Palestinian political umbrella body, said Kushner could not be a neutral envoy if he was supportive of Israeli settlements.

Hani al-Masri, a political scientist and director of the Palestinian Center for Policy Research and Strategic Studies, said Kushner would be a representative of Israel rather than of the United States.

"If he attempts to resume negotiations, he will seek to hold them at a lower level than previous negotiations. It will be more biased to the Israeli position in an era where Israel is more extreme."

http://www.hangthebankers.com/trumps-son-in-law-jared-kushner-israel-illegal-settlements/

Kushner Foundation which has given money to illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank as well as extremist Jewish groups connected to violent attacks against Palestinians, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Monday.

The findings are based on tax records from Kushner’s parents for the years 2010-2014, which show that the Charles and Seryl Kushner Foundation gave almost US$60,000 to settlement projects and organizations in Israel, which Washington deems publically as illegal, yet finds covert ways of funding.

[Sunlei]

9. Rs 'for profit built an entire city with 200 business on contested land, in 6 months!No Pals allowed

segregated !! no wonder pals are pissed off.

[Sunlei]

8. offer rebuilds of destroyed towns in ME, as condos with 50 yr mortgages. not with federal funds!!

don't touch Americans federal or state funds! use your own $.

[ananda]

10. After all, he's an incompetent boob ..

.. as he said so himself.

[underpants]

11. Oh these poor kids. They had to sit and listen to someone admit they dont have a clue

The bit about the scolding followed by "WIRED has obtain a recording" is just too funny.

[barbtries]

14. that was fabulous.

bless whoever it was.

[demmiblue]

17. I was going to excerpt more of the meat of the article...

Last edited Tue Aug 1, 2017, 03:26 PM - Edit history (1)

but I just couldn't let that pass!

[underpants]

18. Classic

I could just see the pages (high achievers or well connected) sitting there thinking "You KNOW I'm not being paid to be here, right" and the one sitting right beside "Damn lady you've been here 15 years and you haven't learned that leaking is one of the best ways to network in DC?!??!"

[NCjack]

12. The old standby plot for generating chaos and hopelessness can't be beat.

Put an ignoramus in charge of the project and give him the backing of the most powerful person in the world, who is also an ignoramus.

The only solution that I see Jared and Donald coming up with is to form a company of speculators to acquired land for a hotel, some business buildings, and some apartment buildings and do the construction. Then rip the cash out of the company, bankrupt the company, and leave the partners holding the worthless bag of assets. Jared and Donald quickly rush back to the safety of USA, and the bankrupt partners are too poor to fight each other.

It's a variation on the tried and proven scheme of Donald's. Might just work.

[barbtries]

13. haha

maybe Patru taped it and gave it to WIRED. maybe she cares more about the country than the confidence of trump.

[Freethinker65]

19. The whole administration/family is blissfully fucking clueless

And fortunately for them, so is much of the country. Too bad the rest of us, and the United States' world standing, has to suffer.

[Justice]

22. Twitter pointed out Jordanian story is wrong - bystander was killed

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/23/at-least-one-person-killed-in-shooting-near-israel-embassy-in-jordan

An Israeli embassy security guard shot dead a Jordanian man who attacked him with a screwdriver at Israel’s embassy compound in Amman on Sunday night, police said. A second Jordanian man also died in the incident.

Calling Netanyahu by his nickname Bibi - and glossing over details of this Jordanian incident reveals whose side Jared is on.

[IronLionZion]

23. I hope this doesn't ruin their careers too much

This has got to be the worst time to be an congressional intern. I hope this shit show doesn't discourage them from future public service.

Trump is known for being unique. I find it odd that Kushner doesn't understand that they are uniquely unqualified and incompetent to reach any hope of peace in the Middle East. Trump claims to have a secret plan to defeat ISIS. Maybe he's got a secret plan for Israel/Palestine too. One that is so secret he doesn't even know what it is yet.

Their slogan could be make the Middle East Great Again.

[Blue Idaho]

24. That little boy

Is going to get his ass handed to him. The Middle East is no place for rank amateur to try to play peacemaker.

[LuckyLib]

25. Any scholar on the Middle East could name the top five books that one would have to read

to even have a cursory understanding of this complex region. You can be assured that Kushner has read none of them, nor has he consulted with anyone who could introduce him to what he's walking in to.

[Brother Buzz]

31. Can you say Caspar Milquetoast? Boo!

He is in way over his head, and he knows it. I have no doubt Kushner would go to ground faster than you can spit if only he could.