ISRAEL/JARED KUSHNER/PALESTINE/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Jared Kushner, the conspicuously quiet-in-public son-in-law and senior adviser to President Donald Trump, stepped up on Monday [5-14-18] to become the face of the administration’s decision to move the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to the country’s contested capital, Jerusalem…In his remarks, Kushner blamed the deadly violence on demonstrators the White House would later claim had been provoked by Hamas, calling them ‘part of the problem, and not part of the solution,’ before pivoting to more familiar rhetoric, saying the US ‘recognizes the sensitivity surrounding Jerusalem, a city that means so much to so many.’ He should know. In the early days of the Trump presidency, Kushner was tasked with revamping the stalled Middle East peace process. It was one piece of his broad, seemingly scattershot portfolio, which also included reforming care for veterans (now a potentially dangerous mess), advancing criminal justice legislation on Capitol Hill (now near an impasse), keeping up diplomacy with Mexican leaders (not working out too well either), and working up a strategy to confront the opioid crisis (how’s that going?) — among other things. After nearly 16 months on the job, or jobs, Kushner has delivered little and mostly drifted into the background of Trump’s chaotic operation. By using the embassy move, in which the US took Israel’s side on such a contentious issue, as an avenue back into the spotlight, Kushner only further entrenched the perception that — like his father-in-law — he prioritizes Israeli interests, even if means further marginalizing those of the Palestinian population.”
-Gregory Krieg, “You had one job, Jared Kushner. Actually, you had many.,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, May 15, 2018 6:04 am