Saudi Arabia is a safer place for Jews than college campuses in the United States, former senior U.S. presidential adviser Jared Kushner said this weekend.
“One of the ironies is that, as an American Jew, you’re safer in Saudi Arabia right now than you are on a college campus like Columbia University,” Kushner said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.” “They allowed me to speak freely,” Kushner said of the Saudis after returning from a trip to the Gulf Kingdom, where he spoke at a conference.
The 42-year-old Kushner, who is Jewish, is former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.
His remarks come amid a wave of anti-Israel protests at campuses across the United States, some of which have adopted jihadist terminology along with both overt and covert praise for Hamas in the aftermath of the terror group’s Oct. 7 assault on Israel, the deadliest single attack on Jews since the Holocaust.
Kushner, who was the architect behind the landmark 2020 Abraham Accords which saw four Arab countries make peace with Israel, said that he remained optimistic that a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia was still possible in the future.
“Yes, I believe they would like to move forward with the deal with America and with Israel,” Kushner said.
“The deal that’s being discussed isn’t just a partnership with Israel. It’s also deepening their ties with America,” he added.
Hamas is widely believed to have carried out the Oct. 7 massacre to attempt to scuttle the emerging peace deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
