Kushner attributes the lack of progress on Gaza to upcoming Israeli elections
U.S. efforts to advance plans to disarm Hamas and open the way for investment into rebuilding Gaza have stalled.
September 7, 2026 / 2:03 PM EDT / CBS News
President Trump's special envoy Jared Kushner directly linked the lack of progress on the rehabilitation of the war-torn Gaza Strip to upcoming Israeli elections.
Israel will hold elections in late October, and polls show it is a tight race between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his opponents.
"We're working through some political issues in Israel. I think we agree with them on the end state," said Kushner, who was speaking at a conference on Sunday in Kyiv, where he was holding talks to end the Russia-Ukraine war. "They just have a crazy election, and that makes them a little irrational in certain regards."
Kushner's remarks are a rare and candid criticism of Netanyahu's government by a senior Trump administration official over the conservative Israeli leader's Gaza policy.