Former White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and his deputy, Avi Berkowitz, were, on Sunday nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. The nomination for their role in negotiating four normalisation deals between Israel and Arab nations comes eight days before Kushner’s father-in-law, ex-president Donald Trump stands to face an impeachment trial for the second time.
The nomination was made by American attorney Alan Dershowitz, who is eligible to do so in his capacity as a professor emeritus of Harvard Law School. Kushner was senior advisor to the then president Trump and Avi Berkowitz served as Assistant to the President and Special Representative for International Negotiations. Berkowitz was also the Middle Envoy under Trump administration. The duo were negotiating peace between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.
Including Morocco in the deal raised questions from lawmakers, as the US recognised Morocco’s sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara region.
The deal came about following lengthy discussions that accelerated only in around August.
Under the deal, UAE, US and Israel would launch a "strategic agenda" for the Middle East to expand "diplomatic, trade, and security cooperation", noting that the three "share a similar outlook regarding the threats and opportunities in the region". As per the deal, Israel would suspend declaring sovereignty over Palestinian territories. Reuters had reported the deals the "most significant diplomatic breakthroughs in the Middle East in 25 years.”
The Palestinians however, were not happy with the accords and said that the ethnic group’s needs weren’t taken into consideration while the deal was being drafted. President Joe Biden and his administration are in the process of reviewing Trump’s deals, including arms packages for the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.