The Gaza Strip has some waterfront property that could be quite "valuable," according to Jared Kushner. Of course, it's also home to millions of Palestinians, as Kushner addressed at a different point while speaking at a Harvard University event last month. (Some outlets are reporting the event took place March 8, but the correct date appears to be February 15, with the video being posted March 7 and Kushner's comments being only just now widely reported, first by the Guardian.) Speaking with Harvard's Middle East Initiative (MEI) faculty Chair Tarek Masoud, Kushner noted, per Politico and the Hill, that "Gaza's waterfront property could be very valuable … if people would focus on building up livelihoods" instead of building tunnels or spending money on munitions.
Kushner and Masoud also discussed Israel's war with Hamas, and Kushner said that if he were in charge of Israel, with the situation as it is right now he would prioritize getting civilians out of Rafah. "It's a little bit of an unfortunate situation there, but from Israel's perspective I would do my best to move the people out and then clean it up," he said of Gaza. As far as where to move residents, he suggested, "I would just bulldoze something in the Negev [desert], I would try to move people in there." He later added, "I do think right now opening up the Negev [which is in Israel's southern region], creating a secure area there, moving the civilians out, and then going in and finishing the job [against Hamas] would be the right move." Not surprisingly, Kushner's "valuable" comment sparked some backlash, with some saying Kushner was suggesting "ethnic cleansing." (More Jared Kushner stories.)
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