ADL to honor Jared Kushner for Israel work, calling it ‘pivotal’ for hostage negotiations
![Jared Kushner, then an advisor to President Donald Trump, speaks at a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the normalization of ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates in Aug. 2020.](https://forward-hcl50.orc.scoolaid.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/GettyImages-1228269470-2400x1350.jpg)
Jared Kushner, then an advisor to President Donald Trump, speaks at a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the normalization of ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates in Aug. 2020. Photo by Getty Images
The Anti-Defamation League will deliver an award to Jared Kushner for his diplomatic work related to Israel at its annual conference next month in New York City.
Kushner, the son-in-law of former president Donald Trump — the presumptive Republican nominee for president — served as a senior adviser in Trump’s White House where he was charged to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The ADL is honoring Kushner for his “vital and deeply impactful work on the Abraham Accords,” which normalized relations between Israel and several Middle Eastern countries including Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
He also championed the decision to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
A spokesperson for the ADL said that Kushner’s previous diplomatic work was “pivotal for hostage release and an end to the conflict post October 7th terrorist attack.”
Kushner, who the ADL previously defended from antisemitic right-wing attacks, has said he will not participate in a second Trump administration.
The award ceremony will take place at the ADL’s annual Never Is Now conference early next month. The organization declined to share more details about the award, and who else would be honored at the conference.
“This is about Jared Kushner and his record of policy work,” the organization said in a statement to the Forward.
The ADL gives out an International Leadership Award, which in past years has gone to figures including technology executive Eric Schmidt, actor and producer Sacha Baron Cohen and chessmaster and activist Garry Kasparov. It is not clear if this is the award it will bestow upon Kushner.
The accolade comes at a tense moment for the organization. The ADL has been dealing with staff unrest over its positions on Israel amid a spike in antisemitism following the Oct. 7 terrorist attack in Israel and subsequent Israeli invasion of Gaza.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO