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Avi Berkowitz

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Avi Berkowitz
Official portrait, 2019
Special Representative for International Negotiations
In office
November 1, 2019 – January 20, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byJason Greenblatt
Personal details
Born (1988-11-04) November 4, 1988 (age 36)
Political partyRepublican
EducationQueens College (BA)
Harvard Law School (JD)
AwardsNational Security Medal, Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, Order of Ouissam Alaouite

Avrahm Berkowitz (born November 4, 1988) is an American attorney and political adviser who served as the Assistant to the President and Special Representative for International Negotiations from 2019 to 2021. He was an advisor to Jared Kushner in the Trump administration, and worked on the Trump peace plan and the Abraham Accords.

Education and early career

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Berkowitz grew up in Lawrence, New York. He attended Yeshiva of Far Rockaway, an Orthodox Jewish high school. After graduation, he studied at Kol Torah, an Orthodox yeshiva in Jerusalem. In 2009, he returned to the United States and enrolled in Yeshivas Ner Yisroel in Baltimore. Eventually, he transferred to Queens College, where he finished his undergraduate work and received a Bachelor of Arts degree. Afterwards, he attended Harvard Law School ('16).[1]

During law school, Berkowitz taught undergraduate classes, including one called “Road to the White House,” years before he would campaign for Donald Trump.[2] While a student, Berkowitz met Jared Kushner playing basketball in Phoenix.[2] After he graduated from Harvard Law School, he went to work for the Trump 2016 presidential campaign.[3]

Career

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Berkowitz alongside Steve Mnuchin and David M. Friedman

Prior to serving in the White House, Berkowitz worked for Kushner at his company, Kushner Companies. He also briefly worked as a writer for the New York Observer, owned by Jared Kushner.[2]

Donald Trump presidential campaign (2016)

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Berkowitz was assistant director of data analytics for the Trump campaign. He also directed Trump Tower Live, a Facebook Live talk show which The New York Times characterized as “essentially agitprop [political propaganda] presented as news.”[3]

Executive Office of the President

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Once Donald Trump was sworn in as president, Berkowitz joined the White House as Kushner's "right-hand man" on Jan 20, 2017. His official title was Special Assistant to the President and Assistant to the Senior Adviser.[2][4] On September 6, 2018, Berkowitz was promoted to Deputy Assistant to the President and Advisor to the Senior Advisor.[5]

Special Representative for International Negotiations

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On September 5, 2019, the Trump Administration announced that Jason Greenblatt would be departing in the coming weeks, and that Avi Berkowitz would become more involved in the Middle East peace process.[6] On November 1, 2019, Berkowitz was promoted to Assistant to the President and Special Representative for International Negotiations.[7]

In January 2020, Berkowitz flew to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu and Benny Gantz to discuss the possibility of releasing the Trump peace plan.[8][7]

Berkowitz alongside Steve Mnuchin and Benjamin Netanyahu

On January 28, 2020, the Trump Administration unveiled the plan in a ceremony at the White House.[9] A component of the plan envisioned applying Israeli law or annexation to roughly 30% of the West Bank. On June 12, 2020, UAE Ambassador, Yousef Al Otaiba authored an op-ed in an effort to halt Israel's planned annexation of West Bank territory.[10] Otaiba's op-ed was addressed to the Israeli public and published on the front page of Yedioth Ahronoth.[11] The White House had reservations about annexation as well, which Berkowitz discussed with Netanyahu in meetings in Israel over three days in late June, 2020.[12] In the meetings Berkowitz proposed an alternative to annexation, normalization with the United Arab Emirates.[12]

On July 2, 2020, Otaiba met with Berkowitz to further discuss an alternative plan to annexation.[13] Along with a mutual interest in creating a unified front against the opposing forces of Iran, the concerns detailed in Otaiba's op-ed and planning with Jared Kushner and Berkowitz helped bring vested parties to the negotiating table to identify an alternative solution,[13] ultimately resulting in a normalization agreement reached in August 2020.[14] As a component of the deal annexation was postponed.[12]

On October 23, 2020 Israel and Sudan agreed to normalize ties, making Sudan the third Arab country to set aside hostilities in two months.[15] The agreement was negotiated on the U.S. side by Trump senior adviser Jared Kushner, Middle East envoy Avi Berkowitz, national security adviser Robert O’Brien, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security official Miguel Correa.[15]

On December 10, 2020, President Trump announced that Israel and the Kingdom of Morocco agreed to establish full diplomatic relations.[16] The agreement was negotiated by Trump senior adviser Jared Kushner and Middle East envoy Avi Berkowitz and marked Kushner and Berkowitz's fourth normalization agreement in as many months.[17] As a component of the deal, the United States agreed to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara.[18]

On November 30, 2020 Kushner and Berkowitz traveled to Saudi Arabia for negotiations on the Qatar diplomatic crisis.[19] The next day, Kushner continued to Qatar, but left Berkowitz in Saudi Arabia so the duo could continue to mediate the deal between the Saudis and the Qataris over the phone in real time.[20] The negotiations led to a breakthrough,[21] and on January 5, 2021, Kushner and Berkowitz attended the GCC Summit in Saudi Arabia, where the parties signed an agreement ending the Qatar diplomatic crisis.[22]

Honors

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On September 28, 2019, Berkowitz was named one of the top 50 most influential Jews of 2019 by the Jerusalem Post for his role as Special Representative in the Middle East peace process.[23] In September 2020, Berkowitz, Jared Kushner and other members of the peace team that negotiated the Israel–United Arab Emirates normalization agreement, were named the most influential Jews of 2020 by the Jerusalem Post.[24]

On December 23, 2020, Berkowitz was awarded the National Security Medal by President Trump for his contributions to the Abraham Accords, which saw peace agreements between Israel, the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.[25] Berkowitz, at 32 upon receipt, is the youngest known recipient of the award.[26]

On January 15, 2021, King Mohammed VI of Morocco awarded Berkowitz the grade of Grand Officer of the Order of Ouissam Alaouite.[27] In the same week Berkowitz also received the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service for his role in negotiating the Abraham Accords.[28]

Policy influence

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Berkowitz speaking in Bahrain in 2020

Middle East peace plan

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In 2019, White House advisers Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt wrote a Middle East peace plan. It was kept a secret within the White House staff, with access limited to four people, one of whom was Berkowitz.[29]

In February 2019, Berkowitz flew with Kushner to six countries (Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Saudi Arabia) in order to unveil a new closely guarded plan to bring peace to the Middle East.[30]

U.S. embassy in Israel

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Berkowitz also played a key role in the U.S. decision to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.[31]

Prison sentencing reform

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Kushner led the White House effort to pass the First Step Act, legislation to reform prison sentencing. Kushner won “bipartisan praise for driving a 20-year effort to reform prison sentencing and criminal justice to the finish line and ignoring repeated declarations that it was dead . . .” Kushner hand-picked Berkowitz and only two other White House aides as part of his team to pass the legislation.[32]

References

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  1. ^ "Avrahm Berkowitz". Observer.
  2. ^ a b c d Relman, Eliza. "Jared Kushner's 28-year-old protégé is his right-hand man in the White House". Business Insider. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Trump TV Mastermind Avi Berkowitz Tapped as Assistant to Jared Kushner". Haaretz. January 20, 2017. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
  4. ^ "Avrahm J. "Avi" Berkowitz". ProPublica. March 7, 2018. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
  5. ^ "President Donald J. Trump Announces Appointments for the Executive Office of the President". whitehouse.gov. Retrieved June 24, 2019 – via National Archives.
  6. ^ Crowley, Michael (September 5, 2019). "Jason Greenblatt, a Designer of Trump's Middle East Peace Plan, Is Leaving the Administration". The New York Times. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  7. ^ a b Nahmias, Omri (January 5, 2020). "Avi Berkowitz to arrive in Israel Sunday, first trip since taking office". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  8. ^ Ahren, Raphael (January 7, 2020). "Trump's Media-Shy New Peace Envoy Berkowitz Meets Israeli Leaders". The Times of Israel. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  9. ^ Holland, Steve; Williams, Dan; Mohammed, Arshad (January 28, 2020). "Trump leaps into Middle East fray with peace plan that Palestinians denounce". Reuters. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  10. ^ Al Otaiba, Yousef (June 12, 2020). "Annexation will be a serious setback for better relations with the Arab world". ynetnews. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  11. ^ Ahren, Raphael (June 12, 2020). "In first-ever op-ed for Israeli paper, UAE diplomat warns against annexation". www.timesofisrael.com. Times of Israel. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  12. ^ a b c Ravid, Barak (August 13, 2020). "Behind the scenes: How the Israel-UAE deal came together". Axios. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  13. ^ a b Zieve Cohen, Sam (September 30, 2020). "UAE's Al Otaiba goes behind the scenes of the Abraham Accords". Jewish Insider. The Jewish Insider. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  14. ^ Federico-O'Murchú, Seán (August 13, 2020). "Read: Full US-Israel-UAE statement on normalizing relations". CNN. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  15. ^ a b Holland, Steve (October 23, 2020). "Israel, Sudan agree to normalize ties with U.S. help: joint statement". Reuters. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  16. ^ Lee, Matthew (December 10, 2020). "Israel, Morocco to normalize ties; shifts W Sahara policy". AP News. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  17. ^ Ravid, Barak (December 10, 2020). "Morocco to normalize ties with Israel in deal with Trump over Western Sahara". Axios. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  18. ^ Ravid, Barak (December 11, 2020). "Scoop: Fallout between Trump and top GOP senator made Morocco-Israel deal possible". Axios. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  19. ^ Holland, Steve (November 29, 2020). "Trump senior aide Kushner and team heading to Saudi Arabia, Qatar". Reuters. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  20. ^ "Saudi Arabia, Qatar to sign U.S.-brokered deal to ease Gulf crisis". Axios. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  21. ^ Ravid, Barak (December 4, 2020). "Saudi Arabia and Qatar near deal to end standoff, sources say". Axios. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  22. ^ "Saudi Arabia lifts blockade of Qatar in breakthrough agreement easing Gulf crisis". NBC News. January 5, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  23. ^ "The Jerusalem Post's 50 Most Influential Jews of 2019". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  24. ^ "A new era in the Middle East: These are the men who helped make peace". Jerusalem Post. September 21, 2020. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  25. ^ "Trump gives awards to top aides for Arab-Israeli deals". Reuters. December 23, 2020. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  26. ^ "Trump gives awards to top aides for Arab-Israeli deals". Jerusalem Post. December 24, 2020. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  27. ^ "Trump receives Morocco's highest award for Middle East work". The Jerusalem Post. Reuters. January 15, 2021. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  28. ^ Bedard, Paul (January 15, 2021). "Team Trump wins rare recognition: Kushner, Berkowitz, Scavino". Washington Examiner. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  29. ^ Holland, Steve (April 10, 2019). "In leaky White House, Trump team keeps Middle East peace plan secret". Reuters. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
  30. ^ Fox, Emily Jane (February 21, 2019). "Jared Kushner Is Preparing for Another Face-to-Face Meeting with M.B.S." Vanity Fair. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
  31. ^ Chozick, Amy; Seligson, Hannah (November 17, 2018). "Are Jared and Ivanka Good for the Jews?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
  32. ^ Bedard, Paul (December 13, 2018). "Jared Kushner 'indispensable' on prison reform, model for future Trump fights". Washington Examiner. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
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