Kushner’s firm sold a quarter of its Phoenix stake. What remained during his Gaza work?

Affinity Partners’ investment in Phoenix Financial remained substantial after a July 2026 sale raised about 1.05 billion Israeli shekels. Exchange filings show that the vehicle managed by Jared Kushner’s firm sold about a quarter of its shares and held 7.40% of the Israeli insurer and asset manager when the sale closed. Kushner was already serving on the boards that the White House set up to help carry out its Gaza plan. Those records establish a financial interest during his diplomatic work. They leave open how much he stood to gain personally and whether the interest affected any decision. July settlement filing · White House board announcement

The deal is one line of inquiry for Congress as it prepares to change hands. On November 8, Rep. Robert Garcia$, the ranking Democrat on House Oversight, raised the prospect of testimony from Kushner. A month earlier he requested records about Phoenix and the safeguards around Kushner’s work. Our account of the coming change in House subpoena power covers the broader requests. The Phoenix filings offer a way to test one of them against a specific investment. Garcia’s October 5 letter · The Washington Post on his November 8 interview

The first purchase preceded the election. The second closed after it.#

AP Investments III Ltd., the vehicle named in the filings, bought its initial shares from Belenus Lux, which was controlled indirectly by Centerbridge Partners and Gallatin Point Capital. The corrected seller filing dates the first transfer to August 7, 2024. The parties also arranged a second purchase contingent on regulatory permission. Israel’s Capital Market, Insurance and Savings Authority granted the permission on January 15, 2025, and the second transfer closed on January 17, three days before Trump took office. The two dates matter when assessing Kushner’s argument that the investment predates the administration. The initial transaction and the agreement for a second tranche preceded the election. The increase to 9.91% was completed after it. Corrected seller filing · January permit and purchase letter · January closing report

The prices above use the reported settlement figures. The second purchase price reflects a dividend adjustment described in the January letter. Multiplying shares by price puts the two purchases at roughly 920 million shekels in gross consideration and the July sale at about 1.05 billion shekels before costs. These are transaction values in nominal local currency. The calculation excludes financing, taxes, fees and dividends. It also excludes the value of the 18.65 million shares that the vehicle kept. The filings establish the scale of the sale. They do not show what any individual partner took home. January closing report · July sale terms · July closing report

Affinity said the placement allowed it to return its original investment to limited partners while remaining Phoenix’s largest shareholder at the time. Calcalist separately reported that Fidelity was the largest buyer. The disclosure names Jared Kushner and his spouse in connection with indirect control of the investment vehicle and states that the permit restricts the exercise of voting rights below the permitted holding level. The percentage of shares held therefore cannot be read as the percentage of votes the holders may exercise. The filing also does not establish how any profit is split between the manager and investors. Our review of foreign capital and the Kushner businesses explains why those distinctions matter for other transactions involving the family. Affinity’s statement · Calcalist reporting · Permit letter

Phoenix’s insurance holdings create an indirect link to arms suppliers#

The assets at issue sit one level below the stake Affinity bought. Phoenix operates insurance, retirement and asset management businesses. CNN reviewed disclosed holdings tied to its insurance business and found investments in Elbit Systems and at least eight other companies that supply Israel’s military. CNN excluded retirement accounts from that review. Garcia cited the resulting estimate of more than $456 million in his letter. The figure describes the value of selected Phoenix holdings in CNN’s review. It does not measure Affinity’s investment in Phoenix, military contracts paid out to the suppliers or Kushner’s income. We verified the Phoenix share transactions against the exchange filings and rely on CNN for the scope of the underlying holdings it identified. CNN’s broadcast transcript · CNN’s follow-up · Garcia’s letter

Kushner says he never directed Phoenix’s decisions about those securities. CNN reported that he did not sit on Phoenix’s board or hold a management role there. His attorney acknowledged that he had discussed broader strategy and market opportunities with the company. Phoenix told CNN that its operating performance was the main driver of shareholder value. A credit analysis by Midroog separately identifies insurance and other financial operations as important sources of cash flow. Those facts support a commercial explanation for the investment and its gains. They do not reveal the contribution of each holding to Phoenix’s results. Kushner’s published response · CNN transcript · Midroog credit report

A concrete defense deal shows why it matters to identify the buyer and the decision. In February 2026, Israel’s Ministry of Defense announced a deal worth about $130 million for Elbit to integrate Israeli systems on CH-53K helicopters. Israel said the helicopters came from an earlier agreement with the United States. A July 2021 U.S. notice under President Joe Biden had identified Lockheed Martin and General Electric as prime contractors on a possible helicopter sale. That approval notice predated Affinity’s Phoenix purchase. The February integration deal was an Israeli procurement decision. The announcements establish a link between Elbit and a U.S.-supplied platform while leaving no documented role for Kushner in either decision. 2021 U.S. sale notice · 2026 Israeli procurement announcement published by Elbit

The White House gave Kushner a role in Gaza’s next phase#

Kushner told CBS that business relationships helped broker the October 2025 ceasefire and that he and Steve Witkoff would stay out of Gaza contract awards. The White House later named both men to the founding Executive Board of the Board of Peace and to the Gaza Executive Board. Its January 16 statement listed reconstruction, investment and fundraising among the founding board’s areas of work. It did not assign each portfolio in that announcement. Board membership gives Congress a clear point of inquiry about which work Kushner performed and whether any matters were screened for conflicts. CBS interview · White House announcement

1. 2024-08-07The first Phoenix share purchase closes
2. 2025-01-17The second purchase brings the holding to 9.91%
3. 2025-10Kushner helps negotiate the Gaza ceasefire
4. 2026-01-16The White House names Kushner to two Gaza-related boards
5. 2026-07-30The partial sale settles with a 7.40% stake remaining
6. 2026-10-05Garcia requests transaction and ethics records

Source: Exchange filings, White House announcement, Garcia letter

The conflict concern turns on whether a decision in that public work could materially affect the private holding. To connect a negotiation to a gain, investigators would need to identify the decision Kushner influenced, the financial effect on Phoenix and how that effect flowed through to Affinity. The direction of the incentive also needs proof. A ceasefire can reduce demand for certain military supplies while changing the outlook for an insurer with broad exposure to the economy. An increase in Phoenix’s share price cannot separate those effects from changes in its business or other market conditions. CNN reported that it found no indication that Kushner’s diplomatic actions directly affected the investments it reviewed. CNN follow-up and responses

What the disclosure dispute leaves open#

Garcia asked for the record of Affinity’s transactions with Phoenix, Phoenix’s investments in military suppliers and the measures Affinity took to keep Kushner’s government work separate from fundraising and business development. He also sought records on Middle East investments that could benefit from U.S. government action. His request had an October 19 deadline. The letter is evidence of what Congress sought. We could not verify a public production of records in response. October 5 letter

In a separate suit filed October 14, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington argues that Kushner’s duties bring him under appointment and disclosure requirements. The White House says he works as a private citizen on a volunteer basis, and his attorney says ethics lawyers reviewed the arrangement and found it compliant. Those are the litigants’ and administration’s positions. The complaint seeks relief, and we found no merits ruling in the records available for this review. The public docket copies we could read had limited coverage. For a comparison, our review of Witkoff’s latest filing shows the kinds of holdings and transactions that can be traced when a formal envoy files a public disclosure. Federal complaint · Associated Press on the responses · Available docket entries

The campaign records answer a different question#

Robert Garcia voted for the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act in April 2024, before the first Phoenix purchase, and sought records on Kushner’s financial interests in October 2026. A vote for military aid and a request to examine an envoy’s interests address different questions. In the 2026 cycle snapshot retrieved November 8, the site found no matches in its partial Israel-related committee registry for Garcia’s principal campaign committee, Robert Garcia for Congress. The FEC identifies him as the California 42nd District candidate H2CA47188 and the committee as C00797795. The snapshot covers Schedule A line 11C committee receipts, excludes individual and conduit gifts and does not deduct refunds. The separate outside spending lookup found no registry match for spending supporting or opposing Garcia. Neither search establishes a comprehensive funding total. House roll call · FEC candidate overview · Committee filings

Readers looking for a large contribution connected to this administration can see our review of Miriam Adelson’s support for a pro-Trump super PAC. That story follows U.S. political giving and presidential access. The records here follow an investment vehicle purchasing and selling equity in an Israeli company. The Israeli state appears in this story as a regulator and defense customer. The public file identifies no campaign contribution from the Phoenix transaction and no demand by a donor tied to it.

The sources and public records were checked November 9, 2026. The ownership percentages refer to specific filing dates. A mandate describing Kushner’s duties, any written safeguards reviewed by ethics counsel, and a record of who made decisions affecting Phoenix would help Congress test whether the financial interest bore on public business. The July sale and January board announcement establish an overlap worth examining. Evidence of participation in a decision, and of its financial effects, would be needed to draw a stronger conclusion.

Differing perspectives

What scrutiny should Kushner’s Phoenix investment receive while he works on U.S. diplomacy?

Each position is summarized as its supporters make it, with equal weight and in alphabetical order. A summary is not an endorsement; the evidence for each is weighed in the story above.

• Assess Phoenix as a diversified investment

  Who holds it: Jared Kushner, founder of Affinity Partners

  Kushner argues that Affinity bought shares in a regulated financial services group with a broad portfolio. He says he had no role in choosing the defense securities identified by CNN and points to the outlet’s finding that it saw no indication his diplomatic actions directly affected the holdings it reviewed. He says the indirect connection should be assessed in that context.

  In their words: Jared Kushner ↗

• Obtain records on transactions and safeguards

  Who holds it: Rep. Robert Garcia, ranking Democrat on House Oversight

  Garcia argues that the overlap between Kushner’s negotiating duties and his firm’s investment in Phoenix calls for congressional scrutiny. Phoenix’s holdings in military suppliers make the case for examining which matters could affect the investment. He seeks records of transactions, contacts and business safeguards so Congress can test whether private financial interests had any bearing on official work.

  In their words: House Oversight Democrats ↗

• Require formal appointment and public disclosure

  Who holds it: Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

  CREW argues that the authority Kushner exercises in negotiations warrants applying the legal requirements that govern senior federal officials. It says appointment and financial disclosure rules help the public assess who wields power and where financial interests could intersect with official duties. Its lawsuit asks the court to halt his work in that role and require public disclosure.

  In their words: CREW’s federal complaint ↗

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