Kushner and Ivanka Trump organized meeting between Qatari PM, Jewish business figures — report

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump organized a meeting in New York last week between Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and prominent American Jewish business figures, the Axios news site reports.

The report, citing three sources with knowledge of the meeting, says Al-Thani addressed Qatari efforts to secure the release of the hostages taken by Hamas on October 7 and fielded questions about his country’s relations with the Gaza-ruling terror group.

Al-Thani reportedly said Qatar began hosting Hamas in 2006 with the encouragement of the Bush administration, and that the Obama and Trump administrations also encouraged the Gulf state to maintain ties with Hamas, and added that Qatari aid for Gaza in recent years was transferred with Israel’s consent.

“Many of us came in with a negative perception of Qatar based on what we have been reading, and came away with a more nuanced understanding of the role they have been playing in Gaza, both historically and currently,” one of the participants tells Axios.

“We were impressed by the prime minister’s willingness to answer tough questions.”

But another participant says some who took part in the meaning continue to have questions about whether Qatar’s relations with Hamas will change after the war.

“It was an intense conversation at times and there was some skepticism among some of us at the end of the meeting,” the participant says.