U.S. Special Envoy for Peace Jared Kushner is now reportedly facing scrutiny over his private equity firm’s investments, after CNN reported Thursday that he is profiting from the Iran war while serving as a key negotiator in Gaza.
According to CNN, Kushner’s firm, Affinity Partners, held the largest stake in Phoenix Financial, a Tel Aviv-based company that backs businesses involved in Israel’s military campaigns. Affinity remains Phoenix’s largest shareholder, with a 7.4% stake worth more than $1 billion in July, the outlet reported. Kushner has called Phoenix Affinity’s “best investment.”
CNN reported that Phoenix invested at least $465 million across nine companies that supply the Israeli military with equipment, including drones and demolition machinery. Phoenix also invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms manufacturer. Affinity does not hold a stake in any of the nine companies, according to CNN.
An attorney for Kushner told CNN that he “never participated in or directed Phoenix’s decisions” on where to invest, and had no involvement in decisions to “purchase, hold or sell any of the nine companies.” The attorney said Kushner regularly spoke with Phoenix management about the company and “potential strategic opportunities.” CNN reported that Kushner’s involvement with Phoenix’s management had decreased since he became involved in diplomatic efforts.
The White House also pushed back.
“Jared Kushner’s personal business activities have nothing to do with his diplomatic engagements, which he conducts on a volunteer basis at the President’s request,” White House principal deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told CNN.
Kushner has been a leading voice in Middle East peace negotiations and played a major role in securing a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in October 2025. He has argued that economic opportunity offers the best path to lasting peace.
“When you get an Arab and Israeli together and they start talking about a business opportunity, they forget about everything else and then they realize that there’s a lot of similarities,” Kushner said on the “No Priors” podcast in September 2025. “My investors from the Middle East are now looking at Israel, and they’re saying, ‘Wait a minute, maybe there’s a benefit to having these wars done.'”
According to CNN, after Affinity became Phoenix’s largest shareholder, Phoenix bought stakes in a company that makes electronic fuzes for shells used in Gaza and another that makes parts for Israeli tanks. Phoenix had held stakes in other companies tied to the Israeli military before that. Its holdings include a $68 million stake in Next Vision, which makes cameras for military drones, and at least $40 million in Reshef Technologies, which produces electronic fuzes for artillery shells. Phoenix has also made small investments in Caterpillar and Boeing.
Kushner incorporated the company that became Affinity Partners in January 2021, one day after President Donald Trump’s first term ended, CNN reported. The firm secured a $2 billion investment from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Affinity made its first Israeli investment in 2023 and bought a 4.95% stake in Phoenix for $128.5 million in 2024, an investment Kushner described as a bet on Israel’s economic strength.
Phoenix Financial and the White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
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