FILE PHOTO: White House adviser Jared Kushner, flanked by aide Avi Berkowitz (L) and Brian Hook, former U.S. envoy to Iran, during a press briefing on the agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates at White House in Washington, U.S., August 13, 2020. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – 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 negotiating four normalization deals between Israel and Arab nations known as the “Abraham Accords.”
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 as the region girds for a prolonged confrontation with Iran.
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.
Kushner and Berkowitz were key figures in negotiating deals between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.
In a statement, Kushner said he was honored to be nominated for the prize, which will be awarded in October.
Some lawmakers have complained about the Morocco deal because, to win the nation’s agreement, the United States recognized its sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara.
(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
