I had an interesting discussion last week with a Washington-based political pundit who expressed some what I thought to be eccentric views on possible developments in the presidential campaign over the next six months. He said that that strange little man Jared Kushner is at it again engaged in secret meetings, but this time he is being promoted as a possible Vice-Presidential candidate to run alongside his father-in-law ex-president Donald Trump. Reportedly, he is being pushed by a number of hard right ardently pro-Israel Republican Senators, to include folks like Lindsay Graham and Ted Cruz, who are arguing that it would solve the loyalty issue for his father-in-law, a major concern for Trump given the perceived betrayal by ex-VP Mike Pence. Kushner would also be on the right side of a number of issues that Republican conservatives feel strongly about, most certainly including Israel. And, bear in mind, if a seventy-eight year old Donald Trump were to be re-elected and not finish his full term of office, Kushner would be his successor and the first Jewish president of the United States. You can bet that there are some people out there with long memories and deep pockets who might be longing for just that.

上周，我与一位常驻华盛顿的政治评论员进行了一次有趣的讨论，关于未来六个月总统竞选可能出现的发展，他表达了一些我认为相当古怪的观点。他说，那个古怪的小个子贾里德·库什纳（特朗普女婿：译著）又在秘密会面，但这次他被提名为可能的副总统候选人，与其岳父、前总统唐纳德·特朗普并肩竞选。据说，一些强硬的右翼、热烈支持以色列的共和党参议员正在推动他，包括像林赛·格雷厄姆和特德·克鲁兹这样的人，鉴于前副总统迈克·彭斯被认为的背叛，他们认为这将解决对他岳父的忠诚问题，这对特朗普来说是一个主要关切。库什纳还将在许多共和党保守派强烈关心的问题上持正确立场，包括以色列问题。而且，要记住，如果78岁的唐纳德·特朗普再次当选却未能完成他的任期，库什纳将成为他的继任者，也将是美国第一位犹太总统。可以肯定，有一些人有着悠久的记忆和深厚的背景，他们可能正渴望着这一切。

Now, given the fact that Kushner was Trump’s Senior Adviser and the one thing that nearly everyone agrees about the Donald was that his judgement on picking senior staff was flawed – one recalls names like Bolton and Pompeo – and would hardly be a credential for moving onward and upward, but it does nevertheless seem that some might actually be considering the possibility. And it is also true that Kushner brings almost nothing beyond name recognition to the ticket, but that is also the case for a number of other possible candidates for the position. Unlike most identified VP candidates, however, Kushner also would arrive with a considerable quantity of baggage. It is reported that when he was first named by Trump it proved to be difficult for him to get a security clearance, even with the president’s highly aggressive endorsement. This was possibly due to the activities of Jared’s father Charles Kushner who was a felon imprisoned in 2005-7 for business fraud to include illegal political contributions, tax evasion and witness tampering. The prosecuting United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey who handled the case was Chris Christie, later the governor of New Jersey and himself a presidential candidate. The witness tampering charge arose from Kushner’s retaliation against William Schulder, his sister Esther’s husband, who was cooperating with federal investigators against Kushner. Kushner hired a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law, arranged to record a sexual encounter between the two, and had the tape sent to his sister. Donald Trump controversially pardoned Charles after the fact at the end of his term of office in 2020 together with a number of other Jewish businessmen who were on a list compiled by Jared.

鉴于库什纳是特朗普的高级顾问，几乎所有人都认同唐纳德在选择高级员工方面的判断是有缺陷的——人们会回想起像博尔顿和蓬佩奥这样的名字——这几乎不会是他向更高层次发展的一个证明，但似乎确实有人可能正在考虑这种可能性。而且，库什纳除了名气之外几乎没有为竞选带来任何东西，但对于其他一些可能的候选人来说也是如此。然而，与大多数被认定的副总统候选人不同的是，库什纳还将带来相当数量的负面包袱。据报道，库什纳第一次被特朗普任命时，即使有总统的强烈支持，他也难以获得安全许可。这可能是因为贾里德的父亲查尔斯·库什纳是一名在2005-7年因商业欺诈、非法政治捐款、逃税和证人威胁而入狱的罪犯。负责处理此案的新泽西区联邦检察官是克里斯·克里斯蒂，后来成为新泽西州州长，也是一位总统候选人。由于库什纳报复合作与联邦调查员的威廉·舒尔德，他的妹妹伊斯特的丈夫，而引发了证人威胁指控。库什纳雇了一个妓女来诱惑他的妹夫，安排录制两人之间的性行为，并将录像带寄给了他的妹妹。唐纳德·特朗普在他2020年任期结束时有争议地赦免了查尔斯以及贾里德编制的名单中的一些其他犹太商人。

Or, alternatively, the bad security review might have related to Jared’s family’s the Kushner Foundation which was funding completely illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine among its other activities. Since 2020, Kushner has also reportedly been heavily involved with Saudi Arabia, which has apparently benefited Kushner’s equity firm business interests to the tune of $2 billion.

或者，不好的安全评审可能与贾里德的家族基金会——库什纳基金会有关，该基金会在资助完全非法的以色列在巴勒斯坦的定居点以及其他活动。自2020年以来，库什纳据报道还与沙特阿拉伯有着密切的关系，这显然使得库什纳的股权公司的商业利益得到了大约20亿美元的增益。

Kushner and his wife might well be considered a footnote to history, minor players, but for the possibility that Jared might somehow connive his way into a position with real power if Donald Trump is re-elected, but he is in the news right now for other reasons. People forget that quite a lot of what goes on vis-à-vis Israel is driven by what might be called the “profit motive,” which admittedly might be considered a play on the word “prophet.” It all comes down to how much money will be generated once the Palestinians are kicked out of Gaza and the West Bank, just for starters. Kushner has recently revealed his own vision of successful conclusion of the war for Israel in an interview on February 15th plus additional comments and it goes like this: the Gazans should be removed from their homes and those who are still alive and who have not been repatriated to other countries including Sinai in Egypt, might be allowed to reside in a suitable refugee camp style location in the Negev desert, inside southern Israel. How exactly they will survive in a desert is not clear as Israel has no excess water resources to “make the desert bloom” as the expression goes. As Kushner explains how “… getting civilians out of Rafah and potentially into Egypt, might be possible ‘with the right diplomacy,’” suggesting that he “would just bulldoze something in the Negev, I would try to move people in there,” adding “I know that won’t be the popular thing to do, but I think that’s a better option to do, so you can go in and finish the job.” In his comments Kushner also demonstrated that he is delusional, commenting that “I think Israel’s gone way more out of their way than a lot of other countries would, to try to protect civilians from casualties.” More to the point, one has to suspect that Kushner’s views might well reflect those of Trump, who has called on Israel to “finish it up [in Gaza] and do it quickly.”

库什纳和他的妻子可能被认为是历史的次要角色，但可能的是，如果唐纳德·特朗普再次当选，贾里德可能会以某种方式谋求获得真正权力的职位，但他现在因其他原因而成为新闻焦点。人们很容易忘记以色列所发生的许多事件实际上受到了可能被称为“利润动机”的驱动，尽管这可能被认为是对“先知”一词的戏谑。一切归根结底取决于一旦巴勒斯坦人被赶出加沙和约旦河西岸，会产生多少利润，这只是一个开始。库什纳最近在2月15日的一次采访中透露了他自己对以色列战争成功结束的愿景以及额外的评论，大意如下：加沙人应该被从他们的家中搬走，那些仍然活着并且没有被遣去其他国家（包括埃及的西奈半岛）的人们可能被允许居住在内盖夫沙漠中一个适合难民营式的地点。他们将如何在沙漠中生存并不清楚，因为以色列并没有多余的水资源来“使沙漠开花”，正如所说的那样。库什纳解释说，“…用正确的外交手段将平民从拉法和可能送到埃及可能是可能的”，并暗示“我可以在内盖夫推土机挖一些东西，让人们住进去”，并补充说“我知道这样做不会受到欢迎，但我认为这是更好的选择，以便完成工作。”在他的评论中，库什纳还表现出了一种妄想症，称“我认为以色列在保护平民免受伤亡方面所付出的努力远远超过许多其他国家。”更重要的是，人们不得不猜测库什纳的观点可能反映了特朗普的观点，特朗普曾要求以色列“结束加沙的事情，并迅速完成。”

Israel meanwhile, one supposes, can get international donors like the US to pay for the cleanup of Gaza and it could be developed to provide luxurious seafront properties for Israeli and international Jewish buyers, which would produce substantial income for the government and also for investors like Kushner. He said that “Gaza’s waterfront property, it could be very valuable, if people would focus on building up livelihoods.. If you think about all the money that’s gone into this tunnel network and into all the munitions, if that would have gone into education or innovation, what could have been done? It’s a little bit of an unfortunate situation there, but I think from Israel’s perspective, I would do my best to move the people out and then clean it up.”

与此同时，可以假设以色列能够让国际捐助者，如美国，为加沙地带的清理工作付费，该地区还可开发建设豪华海滨地产，供以色列和国际犹太买家购买，这将为政府和像库什纳这样的投资者带来可观的收入。他说：“加沙沿海的地产可能非常有价值，如果人们专注于发展生计的话。如果你想想所有进入这些隧道网络和军火中的资金，如果这些资金被用于教育或创新，会有什么成就呢？那里的情况有点遗憾，但我认为从以色列的角度看，我会尽力搬迁那里的居民，然后对其进行清理。”

It might seem like a screwy idea but it is certainly not beyond the rapaciousness and cruelty that the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is certainly capable of. And it would be a substantial step towards getting completely rid of the pesky Palestinians. There have been independent reports that real estate dealers in Israel are already framing tentative offers for dividing up the more desirable bits of Gaza land, particularly along the Mediterranean Sea. The sales would be for Jews only since part of the desirability of the ethnic cleansing would be to turn Israel into as close as possible an all-Jewish state, which is favored by most Israelis, including expectation of an influx of presumably wealthy diaspora Jews who opt to make their “Aliyah” in a more substantive way.

这个主意可能听起来很古怪，但它绝对不超出以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡政府的贪婪和残酷所能及的范围。而且，这将是彻底摆脱讨厌的巴勒斯坦人的一大步。已经有独立报告称，以色列的房地产商已经在为划分加沙地带中更令人向往的部分，特别是沿地中海的地区，制定初步的报价。这些销售将仅限于犹太人，因为种族清洗的一部分吸引力在于将以色列尽可能转变为一个全犹太人的国家，这是包括预期将有大量假定为富有的散居在外的犹太人选择以更实质性的方式进行“移民”的大多数以色列人所青睐的。

It is interesting to note how the thinking of Jared Kushner is possibly in sync with the intentions of many Israelis and foreign Jews, but there is also additional evidence that more stolen Palestinian land and houses will soon be up on the auction block for purchase by Jews only worldwide. In early March there was held a so-called “Israeli Real Estate Event” at synagogues and Jewish community centers in Canada, New York state and New Jersey. Though one event was canceled due to fear of demonstrators, the Israeli brokers were selling houses and building lots in Israel, to include the West Bank, most of which were “acquired” by force or through illegal contrivance from their original Arab owners. The advertising for the sales stated boldly that “In a world where uncertainty looms and antisemitism shows its ugly face more boldly than ever, the decision to invest in a home in Israel is not just wise—it’s exhilarating!” The “Events” took place even though it is illegal in the US and Canada to restrict house or land sales to one particular religion or ethnic group.

值得注意的是，贾里德·库什纳的思想可能与许多以色列人和外国犹太人的意图保持一致，但也有额外的证据表明，更多被盗的巴勒斯坦土地和房屋将很快只对全球的犹太人开放拍卖。3月初，在加拿大、纽约州和新泽西州的犹太教堂和犹太社区中心举行了所谓的“以色列房地产活动”。尽管由于担心示威者的出现，一个活动被取消，但以色列经纪人在出售以色列的房屋和建筑用地，包括西岸地区，这些大部分是通过武力或非法手段从其原阿拉伯业主那里“获得”的。销售广告大胆声明：“在一个充满不确定性和反犹太主义比以往任何时候都更加明目张胆地露出丑恶面目的世界里，投资以色列的家不仅是明智的——更是令人振奋的！”尽管在美国和加拿大，限制房屋或土地销售给特定宗教或种族群体是非法的，但这些“事件”还是发生了。
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Finally, the suggestion that a lot of the thinking about whither Gaza is possibly being driven by money comes from the tale of the Ben Gurion Canal Project and the reports of multi-billion dollar oil and gas reserves offshore of Gaza in the Mediterranean Sea. The Ben Gurion project has long been mooted as a way to create an Israel controlled alternative to the existing Suez Canal. It would be a navigable canal connecting the Mediterranean and Red Sea that would run through Gaza and down Israel, ending at the Gulf of Aqaba near Eilat. The oil and gas reserves have been verified though they have been inaccessible as long as Gaza has been in Palestinian hands even though the Israelis control the waters, regularly shooting Palestinian fisherman who venture too far from shore. Both the energy resources and total control of a ship canal would be enormous economic assets for Israel. Putting all of that together with the Kushner plan and those business ventures by other Israelis one would be remiss if dismissing the possibility that future development in those areas is really all about money.

最后，有关加沙未来走向的许多想法可能是由金钱驱动的这一建议，来源于本·古里安运河项目的故事，以及地中海加沙海岸外几亿美元油气储备的报告。本·古里安项目长期以来一直被提出作为一种创建以色列控制的苏伊士运河替代方案。这将是一条连接地中海和红海的可航运河道，它将穿过加沙并沿以色列一直向南，最终在埃拉特附近的亚喀巴湾结束。油气储备尽管已得到确认，但只要加沙仍在巴勒斯坦人手中，它们就一直无法利用，尽管以色列人控制着海域，经常射击那些偏离岸边太远的巴勒斯坦渔民。能源资源和完全控制一条航运运河对以色列而言都将是巨大的经济资产。把这一切与库什纳计划以及其他以色列人的商业投资结合起来，如果忽视在那些领域未来发展确实全是关于金钱的可能性，那将是疏忽。