Kushner pushes back on CNN report about Israeli investments tied to military

Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and U.S. special envoy, is pushing back on a CNN report alleging his private equity firm had ties to a company heavily involved in Israel’s military.

“CNN published a deeply misleading story and headline suggesting that my diplomatic work in the Middle East somehow benefited investments in Israeli defense companies,” Kushner wrote Friday on social media .

The outlet identified Kushner-founded Affinity Partners as the largest stakeholder in Phoenix Financial — a company that reportedly invested at least $456 million into various firms involved with Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza.

“Phoenix is not a defense company. It is one of Israel’s largest publicly traded financial institutions, highly regulated and managing approximately $220 billion across thousands of investments,” the special envoy continued, adding that the company is the “Israeli equivalent of Vanguard or Fidelity.”

“Affinity is an SEC-registered investment firm,” he said, referring to the Securities and Exchange Commission. “Our investment in Phoenix is public and dates to before President Trump was re-elected and before I returned to public service. Affinity does not own the defense companies highlighted in CNN’s story.”

Kushner has served as a U.S. special envoy throughout Trump’s second term, becoming an instrumental figure in leading peace talks between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas. Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff have also headed negotiations related to the U.S. and Israel’s war in Iran as well as Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Rep. Robert Garcia (R-Calif.) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wrote a letter to the White House in March expressing “serious concerns” about Kushner’s potential “conflicts of interest” — saying they feared the president’s son-in-law would be allowed to leverage his political influence as a U.S. envoy for personal financial gain.

Kushner reportedly led meetings with Netanyahu and Hamas leadership in August, though a peace deal remains uncertain. The militant group has since demanded that Israeli forces halt their attacks on the Gaza Strip, withdraw from the region and hand over weapons — calls that Israel’s prime minister firmly rejected.

However, Hamas did agree to Trump’s Board of Peace 15-point road map in July, which outlined steps to a peace agreement, but the group reiterated that it would only follow its suggestions if Israel halted attacks. Netanyahu rejected the plan in a rare public show of defiance against the Trump administration, one of Israel’s closest allies.

Two days after Kushner reportedly asked Netanyahu to wind down attacks in the Gaza Strip, Israeli strikes killed at least 10 people, according to The Associated Press , citing local hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent.

Kushner concluded his Friday statement saying, “Misleading stories will not distract me from the work President Trump asked me to do: help end wars, bring people together and pursue peace.” He also echoed his father-in-law’s attacks against CNN, accusing its story on the subject as being “misleading” and a “provocative headline.”