Netanyahu accused of helping Kushner conceal a billion dollars from the UAE - report
Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly encouraged Kushner to place these funds in an account at the Bank of Israel, so that they would appear as government assets
An investigation by American journalist Matthew Cole, revealed through excerpts from his new book published by Vanity Fair magazine and reported by the Israeli site Ynet, implicates Benjamin Netanyahu and Jared Kushner in alleged secret financial deals involving the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. The accusations have been categorically denied by Kushner’s associates.
In his book Princes and Thieves: Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Zayed’s Secret Plot to Remake the Middle East, Matthew Cole claims that a network of bank accounts made it possible to provide Jared Kushner, then adviser to Donald Trump at the White House, with nearly two billion dollars from Gulf countries.
According to the journalist, one of the most sensitive episodes dates back to 2018. Emirati leader Mohammed bin Zayed reportedly transferred around one billion dollars to Israel, routing the funds through Azerbaijan.
Benjamin Netanyahu then allegedly encouraged Kushner to deposit these funds in an account at the Bank of Israel, so that they would appear as government assets rather than funds personally linked to the American adviser.
According to this investigation, Netanyahu reportedly asked to be informed in advance about money transfers, through David Friedman, who was then the United States Ambassador to Israel. The latter categorically denies any knowledge of or participation in such an arrangement.
The investigation also mentions a Dutch intelligence operation. Specialists are said to have managed to monitor certain activities on Kushner's phone and discovered the alleged existence of a bank account in the Emirates, funded by hundreds of millions of dollars from Saudi and Emirati sources.
Matthew Cole establishes a link between these alleged financial arrangements and the diplomatic negotiations that preceded the Abraham Accords, signed in 2020 between Israel and several Arab countries.
Jared Kushner categorically rejects these accusations. His lawyer states that the mentioned accounts never existed and that his client's diplomatic activities were carried out with Donald Trump's authorization, in the interest of the United States.