“The Man Expanding the Abraham Accords”

Chosen for his extraordinary influence on the Middle East and his continued efforts to reshape Israel's place in the region: Jared Kushner has gone from one of the architects of the Abraham Accords to one of President Donald Trump's most influential diplomatic figures, and in 2026, he returned to the center of Middle Eastern diplomacy.

I was impressed that Israel's security interests are an important and central element of their plan.

President Isaac Herzog, August

This year, Kushner has played a central role in advancing the Trump administration's efforts to reshape the Middle East. In August, he traveled to Egypt for direct talks with Hamas leaders before coming to Jerusalem for meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog, working to advance a U.S.-backed roadmap aimed at ending the Gaza war and, critically, securing Hamas's disarmament.

His diplomatic efforts have placed Israel's security at the center of negotiations over Gaza's future. Following Kushner's meeting with Herzog, the Israeli president specifically praised the plan for placing Israel's security interests at its core.

But Kushner's influence extends far beyond Gaza. The diplomatic framework he helped build during Trump's first administration, the Abraham Accords, fundamentally changed Israel's relationship with the Arab world, bringing the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco into open relations with Israel. In 2026, Kushner continued advocating for expanding that vision, including further Arab-Israeli normalization.

From normalizing Israel's relations with Arab states to negotiating directly with Hamas and working to shape the future of Gaza, Kushner remains one of the most consequential architects of the Trump administration's foreign policy.

That is why Jared Kushner is No. 8 on The 36.