White House senior adviser Jared Kushner.
President Trump has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his son-in-law, former White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, and related officials for brokering several Middle East peace agreements during his presidency.
Kushner and his aides, Middle East envoy Avi Berkowitz, former U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman and former Israeli ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer, were all nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for promoting the normalization of relations between Israel and Arab countries.
In a statement, Kushner said he was honored to be nominated.
The nominations were made last Sunday by Alan Dershowitz, professor emeritus at Harvard Law School, for their contributions to advancing the Middle East peace process and for negotiating the agreement known as the Abrahamic Accords.
The Jerusalem Post reported that Dershowitz wrote in his nomination letter that “these agreements normalized relations between Israel and several Sunni Arab states and met all the requirements for the (Nobel Peace Prize) award.”
“They promise a broader Middle East peace between Israel, Palestine and other Arab states.” Dershowitz said, “This is a big step toward peace and stability in the region, and around the world.”
In the four months between mid-August and mid-December last year, the United States helped broker the establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco. The agreements were aimed at normalizing relations and establishing economic ties.
Helping to reach an agreement between Israel and the Arab world is something that the U.S. government previously thought impossible to accomplish. The Trump Administration‘s Middle East policy has been praised by many as the most significant diplomatic breakthrough in the Middle East in 25 years.
JINSA, a Washington-based pro-Israel think tank, said in a statement that “the latest Abrahamic Agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain reflects and foreshadows the growing strategic alliance between Israel and its U.S. Middle East partners, largely driven by Iran’s nuclear program and heightened regional threats.”
In a November report, JINSA urged the Trump administration that to further contain Iran, military and defense responsibilities for Israel should be transferred from European Command (EUCOM) to U.S. Command (CENTCOM), which the Pentagon did Jan. 15.
“This (transfer) could allow Israel, U.S. forces in the Middle East and Arab partners to begin or deepen cooperation in missile defense, exercises, strategic planning, intelligence sharing and other key military areas.” JINSA said the move would enhance Israel’s ability to defend U.S. and Arab partners and “continue to serve as the front line against Iran and its proxies.”
In his letter to the Nobel Committee, Dershowitz said he wanted to highlight “the tremendous contributions to peace made by Jared Kushner, Avi Berkowitz, David Friedman and Ron Dermer.”
Among them were Kushner and Middle East envoy Berkowitz, who were key figures in bringing about negotiations between Israel and the countries. Dershowitz writes, “Kushner and Berkowitz traveled throughout the region, met with leaders and their companions, advocated for peace, and finalized all the details.”
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