Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff's extended 60 Minutes interview

60 minutes overtime. >> All set, Leslie. Thank you. >> Okay. So, I understand that you were up. at 4:30 in the morning this morning. working what on phase two. What were you. working on? >> So, Steve is a very early riser and my. kids get up early to go to school. So, uh, the time before they get up is. usually a great time for us to catch up. before the day and go over what's been. happening overseas. So, this morning we.

were talking about a lot of the issues. of getting the aid into Gaza and. deconlicting some of the. misunderstandings. >> Deconlicting meaning. >> meaning that you have a lot of people. with good intentions right now. Um, an. example is the UN is trying very hard to. get food into uh the people of Gaza. the. Turks were offering to send a recovery. and rescue team in to help search for. some of the uh the dead hostages um that. uh that were looking to recover and uh. there's just a lot of miscommunication.

that stalls and holds up some of these. efforts. So uh getting all sides. perspectives and finding a mechanism to. get quick adjudications and the right. adjudications uh is something that's. very necessary to put in place. I heard. the president asked you what the chances. were for success. >> Yes. >> And you said. >> 100%. And he said, "Why do you feel so. confident?". >> Yeah. >> And I said, "Well, we can't afford to. fail.". >> We just kept on thinking to ourselves, "This finish line, this finish line is.

about saving lives.". >> I need to know if you did some bare. knuckle stuff. You know, I think of the. real estate negotiation as hard-nosed, get your dukes up. >> There were a couple intense moments that. we had, but what led to this was really. the trust that we were able to build. And I was trained in foreign policy. really in President Trump's first term. by seeing an outsider president come. into Washington with a different school. of foreign policy than had been brought.

in place for the 20 or 30 years prior. and his foreign policy was really about. pragmatic realism, right? Taking. pragmatic stances, trying to use. strength to avoid wars and figuring out. how to uh make deals, not lecture the. world. And so um the way that. >> wait, what does that mean? Make deals. and not lecture the world. focus on. interests over values sometimes and. figure out what are where do we have. joint interests with other countries and. pursue those joint interests and then.

where you have differences on interests. or values discuss those privately and. try to find ways to get it to the best. place possible. But the way that we were. successful in the first term with a lot. of the different trade deals and uh. peace negotiations like Abraham Accords. and the ending the GCC dispute was that. we never approached it with people like. we were across the table from you. We. sat uh with the people on uh from other. countries and we said let's agree on the. same objective and then once we agreed. on the objective we kind of locked arms.

and said let's figure out ways that we. can work together to try and get there. We joke with the Abraham Accords that we. succeeded at plan C, but only because we. went through the alphabet three times. and failed at every letter and kept. going and we never quit. >> And was that true here as well? >> Uh, we probably went through the. alphabet seven or eight times, >> I think. So, yeah. >> And. >> this was more complex. >> I I heard that one of the things that. was different from a diplomatic approach. was that you took risks, more risks, a.

lot of risks. Would you agree with that? Well, first I would say that uh. President Trump is a very different sort. of president to work for. He delegates. well. I don't think people realize that. he gave us a lot of authority to. negotiate. He felt um he he understood. the dynamics of it. We put him in the. room. We explained it to him, I think, thoroughly. But he gave us lots of. authority uh Leslie and I.

>> to make decisions without having to. check in all the time. >> Yeah. And it's not to say, by the way, that we wouldn't check in. We did check. in often, >> but that that feeling of comfortability. on our part, it allowed us to uh to. freewheel it a little bit. >> Give us an example of the freewheeling. Give us some insight into how that. worked. >> After the missile strike uh in Qatar. from Israel, um Steve and I basically. were very upset about that. We thought.

that that really was not a smart. strategic move and it violated a lot of. the trust that we felt um like we. deserved from the Israeli side. And so. at that point uh Steve and I basically. sat together and said we need to take a. whole new approach and perhaps with all. of this chaos can come an opportunity. And so we decided to take the previous. ceasefire proposal and then the end of. war proposal that we've been working on. and merge it together into one document. and then focus on seeing if we can get.

the Qataris in the Arab world on board. And so we put that together, spoke with. the Qataris, made a lot of progress, brought it to the president and he said, "I love this idea. Let's go all in and. let's push very hard to get the Arab. world aligned and then we'll figure out. how to get Israel on board and turn this. whole negotiation around. >> Okay. Um I'm going to come back to the. attack on the uh compound in Doha, but. let's uh move forward for one second.

So, you um have both done a lot of. business with the Gulf States, billions. and billions of dollars worth of. business, and you've done some of the. business while this negotiation has gone. on. Um, and that has raised some issues. of conflict. I mean, some blurring of a. line between, you know, what you're. doing in terms of foreign policy and. benefiting financially from what's going.

on. >> Yeah. So, first of all, Leslie, nobody's. pointed out any instances where Steve or. I have uh pursued any policies or done. anything that have not been in the. interests of America. Um, number two, >> perception, >> but Liz, we we can't spend our time. focused on perception as much as we have. to focus on the facts. We're here to do. good. These are impossible tasks and. because this is important, I've. volunteered my time to help the. president and and Steve try to make. progress. But Steve nor I will be. involved in awarding contracts or. figuring out who does business um you.

know in Gaza after. >> Well, from my standpoint, Leslie, I'm. not in business anymore. I've. >> But your family is, >> but I've divested like Jared. I receive. no salary and I pay all my own expenses. >> This has become an issue. what people. call conflicts of interest. Steve and I. call experience and trusted. relationships that we have throughout. the world. If Steve and I didn't have. these deep relationships, the deal that. we were able to help get done that freed.

these hostages would not have occurred. We have trusted relationships in the. Arab world and even in Israel where. we've both done business in the past, but that means they trust us. We. understand their cultures. we understand. how they work and we're able to use. those uh that knowledge and skill set to. try to do things that advance the world. >> I would I would agree exactly with what. Jared said and I like uh his statement. that conflict of interest is is uh a. terminology used by some and we call it. experience. We really do. >> You call conflict of interest experience.

>> because we don't think there was a. conflict of interest Leslie. That's why. because we don't think that uh we. crossed any ethical barriers because. there becomes this sort of perception. that there might be a conflict of. interest because we can call shake. Muhammad in Qatar directly or because we. can call BB directly or because we can. call the foreign minister of Turkey who. is um a very critical person in this. equation or call uh MBZ in the Emirates. or MBS.

>> Get him on the phone. >> immediately. Yeah. and and garner. support. The president when we went to. that ANGA uh meeting with the Arab. leaders came out of that with almost. unonymity a consensus support from. everybody there. We had been working. those uh telephone lines to all the. leaders of those countries. We were not. talking to uh junior people or. lieutenants over there. we were talking. directly to the people who make the. final decisions and that ultimately. became very very critical to the to us.

being successful. >> I want to ask you about a statement you. made. >> that may have framed your outlook on. this Jared. You said issues are simple. It's the people who are comp complicated. and complex. >> Issues are simple. Now, that really is. inverting the way diplomacy has worked. >> Yeah. Well, I agree with him, by the. way. I agree with that statement. I I. say all the time, >> the issues were so thorny, they're still.

impos Oh, you know, hard to get through. >> I like to say, Leslie, and it's a. version of what Jared uh you quoted. Jared is just saying. I like to say that. we're sort of like we're our title. should be secretary of miscommunication. and correcting miscommunication because. that's a lot of what we were doing out. there. You know, we were trying to build. trust between people who didn't trust. each others each each other for for. because of decades of of myths and. distrust.

>> and that's not an easy thing to correct. >> Can I say on the issues are on the. issues are simple and the people are. complicated. Yeah. When I first started. looking at this file, I spoke to. everyone who'd been involved in the. Middle East diplomacy for the 20 years. prior, >> all the historians and all of those. >> and the way they were explaining things. to me just made no sense. And the. foundational. idea that I came to is that people just. want to be able to live with security. and live freely. They want to be. together. They want to have economic. opportunity. They want their children to.

be able to live a better life. And they. want to safely and freely practice. whatever religion they choose to. practice. And that for me was really. what it was about. And so when you think. about everything through that light, you. have all these old historical conflicts. or bulcanization of communication. And. it really is just getting people to. focus on how do we make the future. better versus getting stuck in these old. conflicts. >> We want to walk through, you know, chronologically. And we want to start. with the bombing in Doha. Um, we've been.

told that that bombing, the Israelis. bombing the compound where the Hamas. negotiators were in in the capital of. um,Qatar. U, that that was a turning. point that the Israelis had crossed some. line. Explain how that was a turning point. What went through everybody's mind? How. did it move your negotiations from one. place to another place?

Well, Leslie, we were on that I want to. say Monday. It was Monday, Jared, right? Yeah. We were Monday at it was my turn. to host the uh the uh negotiation. So, me uh Ron Durmer, who was the um lead. minister in Israel, >> and Jared were at my home and we were. going through the peace proposals that. we were putting on the table. And and at. the time, we were discussing compromise. deals. We were discussing what they. called the 10 and 10. 10 hostages come.

out, 10 get left for the final. negotiation. We were discussing a. complete deal. >> Mhm. >> And we were sending Jared was drafting. He had his computer out and um he was. drafting and we were the three of us. having a what I thought was a you know a. very productive session and we were. sending these drafts back to the Qataris. who were sitting in the room with uh. >> in Doha. >> in Doha presumably Hamas and they were. going over things.

and we came away thinking that we were. awful close to a deal and in fact I was. supposed to go to Paris on Friday and. meet Shake Muhammad and several other. people. We had agreed to that trip and. we came up with this notion that we. would let Hamas um have a 4 and a half. day period of time to get back to us as. to whether the deal was done or not. And. we woke up the next morning to find out. that there had been this attack. >> Wow. >> And of course, I was called by the. president.

>> You had no idea. Obviously, >> none whatsoever. You know, I think both. Jared and I felt um I just feel we felt. um a little bit betrayed. >> Now, I had heard that the president he. that he was furious. I think he felt. like the Israelis um. were getting a little bit out of control. in what they were doing and that it was. time to it was time to be very strong. and stop them from doing things that he.

felt were not in their long-term. interests. >> People should understand that Netanyahu, the Israelis, bombed the peacemakers, bombed the negotiating team. And by the. way, Leslie, it had a metastasizing. effect because the Qataris were critical. to the negotiation as were the the. Egyptians and the Turks and we had lost. the confidence of the Qataris. >> And so Hamas went underground and it was. very very difficult to get to them and.

>> and they were the your link to Hamas. >> Absolutely. you were dealing through the. Qataris to make your proposals to Hamas. >> and it became very very evident as to. how important and how critical that role. was. >> But there was something that happened. that uh brought the Qataris back in and. that was this phone call. >> that I think President Trump actually. forced Netanyahu to make to the Qataris. >> I wouldn't call it forced. >> You wouldn't? No, I would I would say.

that I would. >> becoming a diplomat. >> Clearly, >> I would I would say that that apology. was pivotal. >> It was the lynch pin that got us to the. next place. It was really really. important that it happened. And I think. we spent uh with the president at his. direction. We spent a lot of time. discussing it with Durmer, discussing it. with Prime Minister Netanyahu. And then. the president weighed in. He was tough. with Netanyahu.

>> President Trump had a great line at a. speech in the Knesset where he said BB's. very tough, but that's what makes him. great. And ultimately, Prime Minister. Netanyahu wasn't going to do anything or. say anything or agree to anything that. he didn't feel comfortable with, but he. >> he knew what needed to be done at that. moment to make peace. And I give him a. lot of credit for meeting the moment and. doing what needed to be done in order to. get this deal done. The goal of the. phone call was to help things move. forward and now there's a trilateral.

mechanism between the countries which. didn't happen before. So this is the. first time there's a formal mechanism. now between Israel and Qatar and I. believe over time Israel and Qatar could. actually turn out to be incredible. allies in the region to advance things. forward. The apology needed to happen. It just did. We were not moving forward. without that apology. And the president. said to him, people apologize. I I. remember him saying I apologize. sometimes. I'm talking about President. Trump. >> and uh. >> rarely.

>> I don't know about that. I've I've seen. him uh I've seen him. >> Okay. Three times. >> Okay. >> No. >> President Trump told Prime Minister. Netanyahu that it was time to make. peace. and he said, "We're not going to. make you do anything that will create. long-term security issues for your. country, but we want you to work very. closely with us and be flexible on the. areas where you can be flexible in order. to give us what we need to get the Arab. world on board and get this deal done.". >> So after this, the Qataris are back in.

and um so the they were kind of. squeezing Hamas and you were kind of. squeezing the Israelis. Is that the. right way to say it? And how did you. doing that? How did things move forward. from there? >> I don't think squeezing is the right. word. I think refining the different. variables that were truly necessary. >> Now you're the diplomat. >> No, I I I say this very sincerely, which. is at the end of the day, it goes back. to the issues were pretty simple. We. wanted the hostages to come out. We.

wanted a real ceasefire that both sides. uh would respect. We needed a way to. bring humanitarian aid into the people. And then we had to write all these. complex words to deal with the 50 years. of stupid word games that everyone in. that region is so used to playing. Both. sides wanted the objective and we just. needed to find a way to help everyone. get there. >> But you would you were dealing with the. Israelis and the Qataris were dealing. with Hamas and you were dealing with uh. yes and no. The Qataris were the. interlocutors directly talking to Hamas.

but then we were on the phone with the. Qataris, the Egyptians and the Turks. And the notion was to convince everybody. that those 20 Israeli hostages who were. alive were no longer assets for Hamas. They were a liability. >> How did they become a liability and not. their sort of. >> because they weren't bargaining chip? >> What did Hamas gain by keeping these. hostages? You had tens of thousands of. Palestinians who were killed in these. wars. Uh you have half of Gaza or more. than half of it is absolutely destroyed.

And so what's been the gain? And so they. saw the commitment from President Trump. and the Arab mediators to say, "We want. to help the Palestinian people. We want. to help them find a way to have a better. life." And that can't begin until the. hostages are returned and this war is. ended. >> So the same day of the phone call, I. think the president announced his. 20point plan for peace in the region. Um, and the Israelis were supposed to. stop the bombing and Hamas was supposed.

to release the hostages as.1. out of the 20 points. Um, so how did you. move from there to get an agreement. >> because it it wasn't you weren't that. close that day. So the way we designed. the 20point plan with President Trump. was to give it enough room so that we. can then not get into the same technical. elongated negotiations that had occurred. in the past and give a lot of people the. ability to stall and kill the deal. So.

we tried to make everything as defined. as possible. And what that did was it. put the ball in the court of Hamas and. it turned the Arab world against them. because now the Arab world had endorsed. this plan and President Trump had gotten. Israel to agree to the plan. So whereas. two weeks earlier Israel was globally. isolated within two weeks Hamas was now. globally isolated and their Arab. benefactors were now all saying it's. time to make a deal. So that maneuver. changed the entire global dynamic. And.

what then we did is we said well they. need to respond. So the Qataris, the. Turks, and the Egyptians all went in. together to sit with Hamas and said, "It's time to make this deal and let's. figure out what we really need to make. it in a way where you could have the. assurances you need to feel like it can. be successful.". >> Does that lead to the Shamal Shake. meeting on October 8th? >> It does, but we shifted the narrative. and that helped with the with the Arab. mediators. But it was also important at. the same time, Leslie, that Hamas felt.

that there were certain things in that. 20point plan that benefited them. And it. was important that we were able to. demonstrate that the president stood. behind that. An amnesty program, um, all. kinds of other things, uh, redeployment. of, uh, Israeli forces, aid coming in, and it was important that we demonstrate. that because you can't make a deal where. you don't consider each each person on. the other side. It's got to be a fair. deal or the deal is going to be broken. >> One of the points was that uh Hamas did.

not have to leave Gaza. I guess that was. something that was important to them. >> Well, if you go through um normally when. there's wars, they usually give the deck. of cards where they have all the. different, you know, top generals, second level generals, third level. generals. We said to the Israelis is. everyone who you sought to target after. October 7th has basically been killed. And so it's been a major turnover with. Hamas. They've lost over 20,000 soldiers. in this conflict. And so at some point, you have to stop the killing and you.

have to give an opportunity for. something new and better uh to hopefully. come and take its place. And if people. can get tired of the war, then maybe. they're ready to try peace. >> But I heard that the Israelis did not. want to stop the war despite that. argument. >> I think everyone wants to end war. I I. don't think they believed that it was. possible to stop the war in a way where. they can get their hostages back and. where it wouldn't pose a threat again. from Gaza. BB had set forth five.

principles to end the war. And it became very clear to him that. diplomatically in this 20point agreement. that we had absorbed those five. principles and yet created other points. that where Hamas felt that they were. being heard and they were being. respected and it was the joining of. those two things. >> that led to this. >> So the Israelis are on board at least. for part one of the plan. Now you go to. Shamal Shik and the whole point is to.

get Hamas on board. So tell us about. this meeting to set the stage. >> Well before you go to Charal Shik after. uh BB was at the White House with. President Trump and they announced his. agreement to the President Trump's. 20point plan then there was a couple. days of waiting to see what would Hamas. do. And that Friday in the afternoon, uh, we were getting word from the. mediators that they were going to come. out positive, but with a couple of. conditions and different things that.

they wanted to see modified in any final. agreement. But the vibe we were getting. was quite positive. Well, first one. thing one thing I'm going to point out. is that we were getting because of our. relationships and this goes back to you. know that conflict of interest question. you had for for us but we our. relationships were direct with the. leaders of these three countries and we. were hearing that Hamas was positive on. the deal and yet I was reading. intelligence reports every day and. getting briefings from the CIA three.

times a day and those intelligence. briefings were suggesting that Hamas was. going to say no. And so Jared and I had. to make had to make a decision as to. where we thought this was going. And. both of us, you know, we didn't need to. convince one another. We really felt. that this was going in a positive way. And sure enough, Hamas came out and. said, uh, you know, we accept the. president's plan and that allowed us to, um, get into the next gear. >> Yeah. And one thing that also caused. confusion after that was they put in.

some language um that was really very. face- saving for them uh in order to do. and one thing I would tell everyone is. in the Middle East you just have to. ignore all the public statements that. everyone puts out uh because they're all. just talking to their political bases. But the message they were telling us was. that they were on board with releasing. the hostages. They wanted to end the. war. Uh they wanted to negotiate on some. of the different variables in the. agreement but on the little stuff and. not the big stuff. What Steve and I said. to the mediators is let's go to Charmeal.

Shake. We'll do the negotiation, but we. would prefer that they pre-agree to as. many things as possible. We don't have. to start the negotiations when we get. there. There are certain issues that. could be adjudicated now. And if they're. not going to agree to those issues, then. let's not bother with the trip. So we c. we tried to diffuse some of the more. complex issues before they came to. Charmealshake in order to give us a. higher probability of success and a more. efficient negotiation when we got there. >> Did you have the authority to make the.

deal to make these compromises? What kind of authority did you get? Let. me ask it that way. >> To not make a bad deal. >> But but Hamas was. >> that describe President Trump's uh. >> I would say mandate. Don't make a bad. deal. >> Don't make a bad deal. But Hamas was. going to be there and I know that you. spoke directly. So did you have to get. authority to do that or was. >> Yes, we both described it to the. president as this. If we would have an opportunity to meet.

Hamas and if in our view that. opportunity could lead to a deal, were. you comfortable with allowing us to go. meet with Hamas? That that was the. question that we asked him and the. entire foreign policy staff. >> and. >> and the answer came back. If you feel. that you can get to a deal, of course, why wouldn't we why wouldn't I encourage. I being President Trump, why wouldn't I. encourage you to get into that room and. get it finished? >> Steve, was there um an understanding. before this meeting that US diplomats.

don't speak to organizations like Hamas? >> I said to the president, are you. comfortable with this? and he looked at. me quizzically and saying, "How would I. not be comfortable? Who wouldn't take. that meeting if that was going to lead. to a deal?". >> But I'm asking if the diplomats would. not have done it. >> I can answer that. In President Trump's. first term, when I was working on this. file, I raised the idea of potentially. meeting with Hamas to have conversations. and it basically was shut down and and.

ridiculed by everyone I brought it up. with. >> The diplomats were not supposed to do. that. >> Yeah. Well, I just want to say this. first of all. Um, I think the president. was very, very comfortable with it, but. I can remember thinking to myself, this. is as courageous a decision as I've. witnessed. It was those lives are more. important. Uh, bringing uh certainty and. closure for these families is important. Stopping the killing is important. And.

we need if we need to do that then, you. know, go do it. >> Yeah. >> And it felt courageous. >> I'm I'm just trying to um set set the. stage for this meeting on October 8th. that that it was an an unusual thing. that your dealmakers, you know, you're. different. >> Let me give you sort of the crux of. what's at the bottom of why meeting them. was so important. There's so much. mistrust between Hamas and the Israelis.

Doha accentuated that and the president. said, "We will stand behind this deal. We will not allow the terms of this deal. for any party to be violated. >> and both sides will be treated fairly. >> and both sides will be treated fairly.". >> So, you get to the meeting in Egypt and. you're in a meeting with the chief Hamas. negotiator, right? and you're meeting. him for the first time. This is just a. month after the attack in Doha.

>> So, we got into the room. The lead. negotiator was sitting right next to me. >> That negotiator was in Doha when the. Israelis struck. >> Correct. >> He survived, >> but his son was killed. >> Is that right? >> That's right. And we expressed our. condolences to him for the loss of his. son. mentioned it and I told him that I. had lost a son and that we were both. members of a really bad club, parents. who had buried children and um you know. Jared describes it maybe a little bit.

better than me um. >> because you were watching. >> Yeah. What I saw at that moment was very. interesting. You had we go into a room. and you have the Qataris, the Turks, and. the Egyptians. And then we meet the four. representatives of Hamas, which is a. terrorist organization. And I'm looking. at these guys and I'm thinking, these. are hardened guys who have been through. two years of war. They've obviously, you. know, they green lit an assault that. raped and murdered and did some of the. most barbaric things. They've been. holding hostages while they're their.

while while Gaza's been, you know, bombed. and they've they've withstood. all the suffering. But when Steve and. and him spoke about their sons, it. turned from a negotiation with a. terrorist group to seeing two human. beings kind of showing a vulnerability. with each other. >> Is it true that once the deal was agreed. to that the Israelis there at that. meeting and the Qataris began to hug. each other? >> Absolutely. And I thought to myself, I.

wish the world could have seen it. I. wish people could see people from Qatar. hugging people from Israel. And by the. way, it happened with the Turks, too. And it happened with the Egyptians, which sort of, I don't know, makes you. feel a whole lot better about what the. possibilities are for the world. >> So, how did you get to an agreement with. them? >> The basic framework of the deal was that. the 48 hostages would be returned in. exchange for a ratio of Palestinian. prisoners that the Israeli government. had agreed to. 48 meaning 20 alive and.

28 deceased. >> And one of the big sticking points from. Israel's point of view was they didn't. want to do a full withdrawal and allow. Hamas to regenerate in the strip and. then become uh a future threat and what. if they didn't fulfill their obligation? What if they didn't return the hostages? So what we got Israel to do is to. withdraw to a yellow line that we worked. with them on. So it was a a middle. ground repositioning and then over time. they agreed that if there was a. stabilization force in place from the. international community and they saw a.

real pathway towards disarmment of Hamas. and the destruction of all the military. capability, they would further withdraw. with the goal of ultimately uh Gaza. being peaceful and Israel no longer. needing uh a presence. So there was a. lot of conditionality built into the. deal and a lot of elements that would be. trust. Hamas's worst nightmare in this. deal would be that Israel withdrew to. the agreed upon line. Um Hamas released. all the hostages and then once that. occurred, Israel just resumed the war. and went back to going after them. So.

what they needed was a guarantee from. President Trump that um that President. Trump would hold Israel to their word as. long as Hamas kept their word. And. obviously given the dynamics of the. Middle East, given the relations between. Israel and Hamas, there was zero trust. anywhere to be found. Now, here's. something um about you being business. people, dealmakers. um that was different from the normal in. negotiations. um that you just accepted.

point one of this 20point deal and said, "Okay, let's get done what we can get. done and move on later.". But it's like kicking the hard issues. down the road. Can you tell me why you. accepted just part one? >> A lot of business is reading your. opponent and hearing what he's willing. to say now and what he's willing to do. later. What we what we read in their. response was that they wanted to get. there, but they needed a way to save. face and they still had some work to do.

to figure out some of the finer points. that we weren't going to be able to. solve at that moment in time. Let's go. to the cabinet meeting in Israel uh. where Netanyahu's government is called. upon to ratify the agreement. And you. are there and you're sitting on one. side, you're sitting on the other side. In Israel, they called you the. babysitters. Babysitters. >> As if you were there to make sure that.

he stuck to the deal. At least that was. the sort of message that came through. Well, that's but that's bad messaging. because that's not what happened. What. happened was Jared and I were sitting in. Prime Minister Netanyahu's office. We. were going over um everything that had. to occur. He was uh telling us that the. cabinet was waiting upstairs and then it. was a spur-of the- moment thing. And I. give him huge credit for this. >> He invited you to join. >> He invited us to join. And I understand.

that one of the more right-wing members. of his cabinet, Ben Gavir, started to. lecture you. >> and yell at you. >> a little bit. A little bit. Um, but I'll. tell you this. When he when he invited. us, when the prime minister invited us, >> both Jared and I knew that he endorsed. the deal, that we were there to help to. sell it to the cabinet, to let that. cabinet know that we were going to stand. behind all aspects of the deal and not.

do anything that would endanger the. security of the Israeli people. But they. they did ratify but after this man gave. you two a talking to um yeah. >> want me to tell the story it's politics. Okay. >> So uh so Jared and I are both there and. we got a really good reception from the. cabinet. I think I irrespective of where. each any of them individually uh uh uh. stood politically. I think they were. grateful that um two Americans on behalf.

of President Trump were there to help. get this thing to be done and they were. grateful for it and they um expressed. that to us. But there was a moment with. Mr. Gverier and I understand it. It's. emotionally charged situation and people. have died and he's got family members I. think who um uh who who might have been. impacted in some sort of way injured. You know, everyone in Israel knows a. hostage or knows someone who has been. killed. So it's a it's it's it's it's an.

emotional issue for everybody and he was. emotional and it started with me and. >> but like this. >> I I I also talked to him about I I talk. to Gavier about my boy. I always feel. I'm I'm in these situations because my. son Andrew puts me in them and I talked. to him about my son. Um, and I I. wouldn't say he was dismissive, but he. was talking about all the death and all. the carnage in Israel. And I was saying. to him at some point, you got to let it.

go. We just can't play the victim all. the time. And I was explaining to him. how I was able to let it go with regard. to my boy. And so I had this sort of. moment with him. >> Well, part of the plan is the. reconstruction, the building, rebuilding. of Gaza. >> And um, you're builders. you've been in. real estate, as you said, it's extremely. complex. Um, tell us more about the plan. and h how much it's going to cost, where's the money going to come from,

and who's going to award the contracts. >> Three questions. >> I think it's going to cost a lot of. money. >> What's a lot of money? >> You know, the estimates are in the $50. billion range. It might be a little bit. less. It might be a little bit more. I. happen to think that that's not a lot of. money in that region. You have. governments that are going to jump on in. and. >> so the uh Middle East countries are. going to provide the money. >> Yep. But you'll see European.

participation and so forth. I I think. the beginning of this plan is how to get. it going and that's that's what me and. what me and Jared work on all the time. The money raising we think is the easy. part. We think that happens re. relatively quickly, but it's the master. plan and we're working with a group of. people who have um uh been working on. master plans for the last two years. >> So there are plans already. >> We have plans already. We have a master. plan already. And by the way, and.

Jared's been pushing this and we're. working together on it. And. >> I think if the world saw the progress so. far, they'd be pretty impressed. >> Yeah. So, so basically over the last. couple years there's been a lot of. organizations that have been trying to. determine what happens after the war. What's clear right now is we're very. much focused on the humanitarian and the. deconliction to make sure that the aid. can get to the people and. >> deconliction you because there's still. shooting over there. >> So, so you have to make sure that we're. dealing with both sides and sending. messages so that you don't let embers.

become little fires that become forest. fires. So, we're working on deconliction. humanitarian aid. Right now you have um. gazins trying to go home. >> They're trying to go back to where they. lived before. They're going back to. where the rubble is and putting a tent. down and. >> Correct. Correct. And and and by the. way, and it's rough there because it's. not just rubble. It's um a lot of. unexloded munitions all over the field. And um as to your question, Leslie, who's going to award contracts? Um the.

answer is there's a board of peace and. we're going to be very very focused and. fidious about having the best talent. there. We're already talking to. contractors from all of the Middle. Eastern countries because we think there. has to be support from them and they. know the market in the best and uh in. the best way. >> Will it be transparent? >> Everything's transparent that we do. Yes. You you can't you can't replace a. corrupt government with another corrupt. government. the reason why again and. this is an impossible thing to do, but.

Steve and I and and President Trump are. always aiming to try and accomplish. impossible but rational things. So the. goal here is to set up a trans a. transparent good government. This can be. very very difficult to do, but we're in. the very early phases of trying to. accomplish that. >> All right, let's go back to the Tik Tok. So the is the the Israeli cabinet does. ratify the deal and that starts a clock. that Hamas has 72 hours to release the. hostages. So what are you guys going through? Are.

you nervous? Are you anxious? Are you. biting your nails? What's going to. happen? What could go wrong? So after we. went back to the hotel after the cabinet. met um we started getting calls from. both sides saying that the the prisoner. exchange list was not being finalized. and that both sides were not fulfilling. their obligations. >> Yes. And so and there's a mechanism that. had been done between them for different. exchanges that had happened in the past. Um, we announced the deal before.

agreeing to this list in in in detail. simply because we wanted to get the. 72-hour clock started as quickly as. possible. But at 2 in the morning uh. that night after leaving the cabinet, we. got word that there was a big gap. between the sides and Steve and I. basically were working the phones. between the Qataris and the Israelis. going back trying to find compromises. and solutions on that. Um, literally we. finished it about 5:40 in the morning. And so that was a moment too where. everyone's celebrating and we're getting. all these nice texts and messages and.

we're sitting there saying, "This deal. may actually blow apart." And I said to. Steve, I kind of feel like an impostor. right now because everyone thinks this. deal is done and there's still details. that could blow it off. >> Before the hostages actually come out, you decide to go to Gaza. >> Mhm. >> And what did you see? It looked almost. like a nuclear bomb had been set off in. that area. And then you see these people. moving back. And I asked the idea, "Where are they going?" Like, "I'm. looking around. These are all runes.". And they said, "Well, they're going back.

to the areas where their destroyed home. was onto their plot and they're going to. pitch a tent.". >> And it's very sad because you think to. yourself, they really have nowhere else. to go. >> Would you say now having been there that. it was genocide? >> No. No. >> Absolutely not. No. No. there was a war. being fought. >> So that very night you go to hostage. square where the families of the. hostages have been protesting, mourning, being very frustrated, angry sometimes.

And every time you mention President. Trump. >> to President Donald J. Trump, >> I had to stop because they were. cheering. >> Thank you. Thank you. But then you tried to thank. Netanyahu. Yeah. And. >> to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. >> Oh, >> every time you said his name. >> Look, that's how they feel. I don't feel. that that that way. And I thought he.

steered his country through some really. difficult circumstances. >> People think that he prolonged the the. incarceration of the hostages for his. own political uh future. Yeah, I don't I. don't think that's the case. >> The biggest message that we've tried to. convey to the Israeli leadership now is. that now that the war is over, if you. want to integrate Israel with the. broader Middle East, you have to find a. way to help the Palestinian people. thrive and do better. >> How are you doing with that message? >> We're we're just getting started.

>> How sure are you that what you've. accomplished so far is going to stick? >> First of all, it's the Middle East, so. everyone complains about everything. Number one, uh it's looking. >> I thought you were going to say all. deals fall apart. >> No, it's it's very delicate right now, but we just have to stay on top of. everyone and try to make sure that. everyone works hard to try and create. the best outcome possible. This is a. very difficult situation and a very. difficult dynamic. >> So, one of the issues that was left for. phase 2 was um Hamas disarming.

um and it's in the 20 point plan that. they do that. Where are you in the. negotiations for disarmament? >> So, so in order for that to occur, we. need to create the international. stabilization force and then the. international stabilization force needs. to. >> Wow. >> It needs to create a local Palestinian. government. >> How long is that going to take? >> As quickly as we can make it happen. And. so again, middle of it. Yeah. So these. are these are real time challenges. This. has not been done before at the speed.

and with the with the pressure. So. again, these are very hard tasks, but. Steve and I have been working day and. night to figure out how to define this, how to put it together. And so there's. conversations that are ongoing about. what the criteria um are that are needed. in order to make this the highest chance. of success. >> But because this one issue was left. unresolved, Hamas now is using weapons to execute. people that they perceive as their. enemies in Gaza. And they're also using.

their weapons to reestablish themselves. as uh the the entity that is governing. Gaza. They're moving into the vacuum. >> Hamas right now is doing exactly what. you would expect a terrorist. organization to do, which is to try to. reconstitute and take back their. positions. >> Right? >> The successor failure of this will be if. Israel and this international mechanism. is able to create a viable alternative. If they are successful, Hamas will fail. and Gaza will not be a threat to Israel.

in the future. >> Here's what President Trump said. Hamas. must disarm or we will disarm them. perhaps violently. Is it possible that. American troops will go in? >> That's not the intent. But. >> what does he mean then? >> President Trump is exactly what he said. He's his statement is is that he wants. to see this done and he's fully. committed to seeing it done and uh and. he's going to continue to work hard to. make sure that it is completed.

>> If it if not the United States to u to. to disarm if if Hamas doesn't do it. itself who who does that. >> who disarms them? Right now, the goal is. to have the the agreement is that an. international stabilization force will. build a local Palestinian police force. and there will be an agreement reached. between them on how to create a secure. and viable Gaza. And by the way, none of. the reconstruction money is going to be. going in until you have tariff-free.

zones because nobody wants to invest. this money into a place where it's just. going to get destroyed again by. terrorism. >> But is it remotely possible that. American troops go into. Highly unlikely. No, >> we're going to have a weapons buyback. program. This is all linked to amnesty. and disavowing violence. Uh if if Hamas. people want to stay there, we are well. on top of it. >> And phase one was very hard. Phase two. could potentially be even harder. So, there's a lot of work to do,

>> right? Because um you you're trying to. establish a government, >> right, out of nothing. Out of nothing, a. police force. But none of these things. have started the stabilization. peacekeepers. um who were supposed to be from the Arab. countries right in the region. >> No, we we've started uh putting out. feelers trying to figure out how to. organize it uh figure out what are the. tasks, who's in charge of the tasks and. creating a mechanism to start approving. it. Ultimately, this will report to the. board of peace. But there's a lot of.

work that's. >> there is no board of peace, >> by the Jared, the the Egyptians and the. Jordanians have been training uh uh. Palestinians uh on how to be a proper. police force. The Turks have said they. want to be involved. The Indonesians uh. uh have said they want to be involved. >> You seem pretty um relaxed about the. pace. >> I'm surprised. >> Well, we we we literally the deal got. done three days ago. >> Yeah. >> And you know, we've probably been able. to accomplish in the last three days is. about three weeks worth of work. And so.

these are very hard, complex things, but. there's been a lot of thought that's. been put into it by the US government, by different organizations, and so uh. we've got a really good group of people. assembled and we're going to do our best. to get to the best outcome possible. >> Are the two of you committed to the next. phase? >> Totally. >> I'm going to try to help set it up and. then I'm going to hopefully go back to. my normal life. Is there any possibility. that no matter what happens, the Israeli. army or the Israelis refuse to pull back.

their army? >> Everything's possible, but again, I. think that we've shown that we have the. ability to work with these parties and. get them to be as reasonable as they're. capable of being. >> Well, they've got their soldiers there. in half the half of Gaza. >> committed to move back. You know, there. are three phases of redeployment. And if. if Gaza is starting to show signs of. being peaceful and not a threat to. Israel, there's nothing more that Israel. would like more than to not have to have. a heavy military presence there. >> They just don't believe that that's ever.

going to happen. So, we have to help. make it happen. >> Now, part of the agreement was that, as. you had mentioned, Jared, 28 bodies, Israelis were supposed to come out and. phase one by now. Do you think that the. that Hamas is breaking the agreement? Is. it bad faith? >> So, this has been a very intense effort. on behalf of our joint center with. Israel and with the mediators in order. to convey whatever information Israel.

has on the whereabouts of the bodies to. the mediators and to Hamas uh in order. to retrieve them. >> So, you're involved in this part of. what's going on right now. Are you. trying to reassure the Israelis that. Hamas is really looking for the bodies? >> We're just trying to convey information. and make sure that everyone knows the. expectations and push both sides to be. uh proactive in terms of finding a. solution instead of blaming each other.

for breakdowns. >> But are you saying publicly right now. >> that Hamas is acting in good faith? Seriously looking for the bias? As far. as we've seen from what's being conveyed. to us from the mediators, they are so. far. That could break down at any. minute, but right now we have seen them. looking to honor their agreement. >> What's the most important next step? Is. it the stabilization force? >> Everything. It's I took the words right. out of my mouth. >> So there's no order of priority. There's.

about. >> It sounds like the stabilization. >> There's about 10 tier one priorities and. we're working all them in parallel. When. you talk about a government, um, and I know this is in the future, but whether it's Gaza by itself or a. Palestinian state with the West Bank, um, do you foresee it as a democracy or. do you see it as a government with a. strong man? >> Too early to tell. I I just being. honest, too early to tell. Let's see if.

we can make it functional. And if it's. functional, there's a lot of ways to do. it. So, are you going to do anything or. can you do anything about the violence. going on right now in Gaza? >> So, SenCom put out a a strong statement. on it and we've sent strong messages. through the mediator to Hamas. Uh we've. been trying to hold back Israel from. getting involved. We're working to set. up a safe zone uh beyond the yellow line. for Palestinians who feel that they're. at threat from Hamas. Uh what we have.

heard back from the mediators is that. Hamas doesn't control all the different. factions inside and that there is a. little bit of chaos occurring because. Hamas right now is quite weak and. desperate and so uh we're doing our best. to create safe zones and opportunities. to avoid as much of this as possible. >> What about a Palestinian state that's in. the 20point plan? >> Well, what what the plan says is that. there could create a pathway to it. But. you know these what I learned when I got. involved is that the the word state. means different things to different. people. And so right now what we're.

focused on is creating a situation for. joint security and economic opportunity. for Israelis and Palestinians so that. they can live peacefully side by side in. a durable way. What you end up calling. it over time will allow the Palestinians. to determine that themselves. But right. now it's just focused on making this. functional. There's been a long war. The. war is over. Hopefully we keep it that. way. and uh we want to create conditions. for a long-term success. >> Okay. So, do you have any uh. responsibility or do you feel it to uh.

unite Gaza and the West Bank? >> We'll see. You know, it's interesting. what a lot of the Arabs have been. telling me is that it's there's very. different cultures. The people haven't. been connected in a long time. And. ultimately, I think you need to create. the right leadership in both places and. then let them decide if they want to be. connected or not. But you need both. places to be functioning uh in a good. way where they can thrive before you can. um connect them. >> Israel has become increasingly isolated. because of this war um because of the.

pounding in Gaza. Um what do they need. to do? What should they do to. reestablish the good reputation they. had? >> Just just be exceptional. You know, I. think if they they don't have to explain. themselves to the world, I think this. war has taken a big toll. But if Israel. focuses on the things that make them. incredible, which is their ingenuity, their innovation, their compassion, they. focus on creating and um and just being. exceptional. I think that in a couple.

years from now, you'll see Israel going. from controversial to very very popular. again on the world stage. >> What about the anti-semitism? It seems that this war has. created a rash of anti-semitism. everywhere. >> Well, that's unacceptable. >> And it's even going on in the United. States of America. >> Well, that's my point. That's. unacceptable. And then that and that's. the president's position. >> But, you know, when you see the. destruction that you went and saw in.

person, you see the what what's going on. on television screens, people see it. with their eyes. It makes a big. emotional impact when you when it comes. in that way. I. >> I I think what Israel should just do is. focused on showing people that if you're. partners with Israel, you can benefit. And if you are against Israel, they're. tough they're a tough opponent. You look. at after October 7th, Hezbollah now is. mostly destroyed. Iran is weaker than. they've ever been. And Gaza is mostly. destroyed. And it's not just the.

buildings. You have all the terror. infrastructure underneath Gaza. I mean, you had tens of billions of dollars of. aid that went into Gaza. and their. democratically elected government, Hamas, used that to build over 450 miles. of terror tunnels. And so there's been a. lot of misappropriation of things. And. so from Israel's perspective, these. people went after them, but they showed. their strength and they they crushed. their their their threats. And that's. what they'll do because their survival. is existential to them. >> Jared, even the president's base, the. MAGA group, um that's beginning to.

fracture. You have some people leaders. who aren't supporting Israel. That's. >> okay. Look, a MAG I always think a. political party is a collection of. tribes and I think the very strong uh. majority of President Trump's MAGA base. does support Israel. But again, most. people are against war and people don't. like what's happened over the last. couple years. But I do think, you know, a strong relationship with Israel. benefits America and President Trump has. been a big proponent and believer in.

that and has been a great champion of. making that relationship strong to. benefit both countries. >> Ukraine now that you've shown yourself. to be able to make deals like the one. you've made here. What about Ukraine? Are you working on it? >> Well, we are actively actively. I'm just. always available to Steve as needed. >> Doing a peace deal is becoming. infectious. people want to do them. People want to. get to this place. You know, it's it's. not I don't think it's um it's.

coincidental that leaders are now coming. to the White House saying, "How do we. move a peace deal to uh uh forward on in. Ukraine?" And we're getting calls from. the Iranians. So, >> what? >> Yeah. So, >> what are they saying? What. >> peace is infectious now? >> Who are the Iranians calling you? Well, well, we're we're we're we're there to, you know, hopefully have a long-term. diplomatic solution with Iran. So, um, >> and someone's working on that. >> Oh, yeah. We're working on we're working.

on Algeria and Morocco right now, our. team. And there's going to be a peace. deal there in the next, in my view, 60. days. >> What about Iran? You're actually. working. Yes. Talking to them. >> Absolutely. >> And you're working on Ukraine. What happened with Putin today? >> I think there was a very good call, very. productive call. You know, we're we. don't stop after just uh after just one. deal. We keep on plugging away. >> Okay, final question. Let's go back to.

the hostages. It really was unexpected. It was unexpected that these 20 young. mainly young boys, young men, um would. would come out. Steve, how were you. feeling when they come up? >> Elated. Elated. And I was thinking to myself, what would I have felt like when I got. the call from Cedar Sinai Hospital that. my son had died if the call from them. was he didn't die?

>> Oh god. >> We revived them. And these people were. all getting that type of call. Their. kids were coming home. seeing October. 7th and and the breakdown of such. barbarism and what it did to Israeli. society and seeing these people taken uh. as really innocent hostages in this. situation was just something that I. tried very hard not to think about what. conditions they were in or what abuses. they would be um experiencing at the.

hands of their captors, but it was just. something out there that made me think. that we couldn't stop no matter what the. failure was, what the situation, uh, what other responsibilities or. obligations I had in my life. Um, knowing that these people were in the. position they were in and that for. whatever reason, God put um, Stephen, myself in in the position to try and do. something about it really just gave us. the constant motivation to not stop.

until we achieved an objective. seeing. it actually complete. It just again a. huge sigh of of relief just knowing that. they don't have to endure that anymore. and even in addition to that that their. families don't have to endure what. they've been enduring with the. uncertainty and the anguish and the. doubt that they were all feeling. So to. be able to do that is one of the. greatest honors you could ever do and. and any you know sacrifice that Steve or. I had to make along the way uh was just. not even a question of what needed to be.

done in order to take a shot at. achieving something so important that. everyone thought was so impossible.