Kushner, Berkowitz nominated for Nobel peace prize for Israel deals

Monday, 1 February 2021 08:53

Craig Barritt / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

Former White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and his deputy, Avi Berkowitz, were nominated on Sunday for the Nobel Peace Prize for their role in the "Abraham Accords".

Kushner, who is Trump's son-in-law, and Berkowitz, who was the Middle East envoy, were key figures in negotiating deals between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.

The deals were announced in a four-month span between mid-August and mid-December and were the most significant diplomatic breakthroughs in the Middle East in 25 years.

Nominating the pair of former deputies to then-President Donald Trump was American attorney Alan Dershowitz, who was eligible to do so in his capacity as a professor emeritus of Harvard Law School.

Dershowitz had defended Trump in his first impeachment trial last year and said in a January 20 comment in the Wall Street Journal that the Senate should dismiss the article of impeachment against Trump over the January 6 storming of the US Capitol as he is no longer president.

In a statement, Kushner said he was honored to be nominated for the prize, which will be awarded in October.

More from International News

Israeli attacks on Gaza killed 60 people in 24 hours

Israeli occupation forces committed multiple massacres against families in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, resulting in the killing of at least 60 Palestinians and the injury of 162 others, according to medical reports.
Trump fires National Security Agency director

U.S. President Donald Trump fired General Timothy Haugh as director of the National Security Agency on Thursday, according to two officials familiar with the decision, and congressional Democrats denounced the removal of the nonpartisan official from a top security post.
Israel steps up Syria strikes, says Turkey aims for 'protectorate'

Israel stepped up airstrikes on Syria, declaring the attacks a warning to the new rulers in Damascus as it accused their ally Turkey of trying to turn the country into a Turkish protectorate.
US sending Israel 20,000 assault rifles that Biden delayed

The Trump administration moved forward with the sale of more than 20,000 US-made assault rifles to Israel last month, according to a document seen by Reuters, pushing ahead with a sale that the administration of former president Joe Biden had delayed.