By The Daily Caller (U.S.) | Created at 2026-10-01 20:56:48 | Updated at 2026-10-01 23:43:29
3 hours ago
U.S. Special Envoy for Peace Jared Kushner is reportedly profiting off of the Iran war while acting as a key negotiator in Gaza, CNN first reported Thursday.
Kushner’s private equity company, Affinity Partners, held the largest stake in Phoenix Financial, a Tel Aviv-based firm backing businesses involved in Israel’s military campaigns, according to CNN. Kushner described Phoenix Financial as Affinity Partners’ “best investment.”
Affinity remains Phoenix’s largest shareholder with a 7.4% stake worth more than $1 billion in July, CNN reported.
Phoenix invested at least $465 million across nine companies providing equipment for the Israeli military, including drones and demolition machinery, according to CNN. It invested hundreds of millions of dollars into Israel’s largest arms manufacturer, Elbit Systems. (RELATED: Ivanka And Jared’s Sketchy Albania Private Island Deal Sparking Mass Protests)
Affinity does not hold a stake in the nine companies, according to CNN.
Kushner has been a leading voice in negotiating peace deals in the Middle East and played a major role in securing a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in October 2025. He argued that financial profit was the best path forward for lasting peace.
“When you get an Arab and Israeli together and they start talking about a business opportunity, they forget about everything else and then they realize that there’s a lot of similarities,” Kushner told the “No Priors” podcast in September 2025. “My investors from the Middle East are now looking at Israel, and they’re saying, ‘Wait a minute, maybe there’s a benefit to having these wars done.’”
At the same time Jared Kushner has acted as a key negotiator in the war in Gaza, his private equity company, Affinity Partners, has held the largest stake in an Israeli firm backing businesses involved in Israel’s military campaigns.
An attorney for Kushner told CNN he “never participated in or directed Phoenix’s decisions” on where to invest or had any involvement to “purchase, hold or sell any of the nine companies.” The attorney said Kushner regularly spoke with Phoenix management about the company and “potential strategic opportunities.”
Kushner’s involvement with Phoenix’s management had reportedly reduced since getting involved with diplomatic efforts, CNN reported.
Phoenix’s purchased stakes in a company making electronic fuzes for shells used in Gaza and another that manufactures parts for Israeli tanks after Kushner’s firm became its largest shareholder, according to CNN. It held stakes in some other companies tied to the Israeli military beforehand.
Phoenix holds a $68 million stake in Next Vision, a company that makes cameras for military drones and sells them to contractors including Elbit and Israel Aerospace Industries, according to CNN. It also invested at least $40 million in Reshef Technologies, a company producing electronic fuzes for artillery shells.
The company reported $165 million worth of orders from the Israeli Ministry of Defense since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, which began on Oct. 7, 2023. It has made small investments in Caterpillar, Inc. and Boeing. Boeing sells products to Israel directly and through the US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, while Caterpillar has sent bulldozers to the Israeli military that have been used to flatten neighborhoods in Lebanon and Gaza.
The White House said Kushner’s private business ventures are completely separate from his diplomatic engagements.
“Jared Kushner’s personal business activities have nothing to do with his diplomatic engagements, which he conducts on a volunteer basis at the President’s request,” White House principal deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told CNN.
Phoenix Financial and the White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
Kushner incorporated the company he later transformed into Affinity Partners in January 2021, just one day after President Donald Trump’s first term ended, according to CNN. The firm secured a $2 billion investment from the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), a sovereign wealth fund led by the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Affinity agreed to make its first investment in Israel in 2023, buying a 15% stake in the Shlomo Group’s car rental and credit business for $150 million.
Affinity bought a 4.95% stake in Phoenix Financial for $128.5 million in 2024, according to CNN. Kushner described the investment as a bet on Israel’s economic strength.
Kushner has known Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since his teenage years and has worked closely with him since the beginning of the second Trump administration.
