H
ow did a trio of real‑estate magnates broker peace in the Middle East? For decades, soldiers, lawmakers, and diplomats have tried to end the region’s wars. After Israel seized Arab lands in the 1967 Six‑Day War, it offered the territory in exchange for peace. The 1979 Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel pledged an end to hostilities, while the 1993 Oslo Accords promised a “New Middle East” free of conflict and borders. None of these agreements produced lasting calm.

    Enter Donald Trump, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner—seasoned developers of urban projects and golf resorts—who appear to have achieved what previous peacemakers could not. Their success lies not in conventional Middle‑East expertise but in a different mindset. They rejected the prevailing belief that no Arab state would negotiate with Israel until a Palestinian state existed. They did not subscribe to the idea that Israel should simply fortify itself with anti‑missile batteries. They never thought that soft power or incentives for Iran and its proxies could secure cooperation, nor that Israeli and Arab leaders could be won over by intimidation or diplomatic isolation. They also dismissed the notion that cutting arms supplies and isolating Israel would end the conflict.

    Instead, the Trump team pursued a pragmatic, real‑estate‑driven approach that leveraged economic interests and personal relationships, reshaping the diplomatic landscape in a way that previous generations had not imagined.