Kushner’s financial stake in Israeli defence firms raises conflict of interest concerns: Report
Middle East Eye reports on 28 September 2026:
US envoy Jared Kushner’s investment firm, Affinity Partners, has the largest stake in an Israeli company invested in more than half a dozen defence companies that have supplied munitions and armaments for the genocide in Gaza and wars on Lebanon, Syria and Iran, according to a report by CNN.
The revelation not only means that Kushner has profited from wars he is officially tapped to negotiate as US President Donald Trump’s envoy, but it means Gulf states including Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar are invested through Kushner’s firm in companies that Israel is using to wage war on Gaza and other Arab states.
Kushner does not have an official position in the US government and is therefore not required to disclose his finances.
Kushner’s link to Israeli defence firms started in 2024 with a $128.5m investment in Phoenix Financial. The company is one of Israel’s largest financial groups, with interests spanning insurance, pensions and asset management. Kushner doubled his stake in Phoenix in January 2025, just five days before Trump was sworn into office. Kushner’s Affinity Partners is Phoenix’s largest shareholder.
CNN found that Phoenix has invested at least $456m in nine companies linked to Israel’s defence sector. Phoenix’s investment in Elbit Systems alone totals at least $265.1m. Elbit Systems is Israel’s largest arms manufacturer. In the last year alone, Elbit has won millions of dollars in contracts from Israel’s defence ministry, including about $200m for advanced airborne munitions and $48m for thousands of 155mm artillery shells. Elbit’s weapons systems have been traced back to the killings of Palestinians in Gaza, Middle East Eye and other news outlets have reported.
Phoenix has also invested at least $68m in Next Vision, a company that makes cameras for military drones; at least $55m in Bet Shemesh, a company producing engines for Israeli warplanes; and at least $40m in Reshef Technologies, which produces electronic fuses for artillery shells. Bet Reshef has reported $165 m worth of orders from the Israeli military since the start of the genocide in Gaza.
Phoenix also has stakes in bigger companies that have been linked to Israel’s expanding occupation of the West Bank and destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza, such as Caterpillar, a US publicly listed company. Other companies linked to Israel’s military in which Phoenix has stakes include Israeli Shipyards and Boeing.