‘For what?’ Alan Dershowitz’s nomination of Jared Kushner for Nobel Peace Prize leaves critics bemused

News that Jared Kushner – former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and ex-senior adviser – has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize provoked outrage and bemusement on social media.

Kushner was nominated for the prize on Sunday by Alan Dershowitz, who worked as a lawyer for Trump, as well as the late serial sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He was put forward for his work setting up the controversial Abraham Accords between the United States, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain.

Some on social media compared nominating Kushner for the Nobel Peace Prize to nominating infamous cannibal serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer for a Michelin Star, considering Kushner’s involvement in the Trump administration’s antagonistic foreign and domestic policy.

“Jared Kushner nominated for Nobel Peace Prize, I’m assuming for helping Trump lose reelection and therefore avoiding war with Iran,” Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology President Richard Hanania said.

Others took aim at Dershowitz for nominating Kushner, referencing the fact that he previously defended Jeffrey Epstein in court and admitted to receiving a massage at Epstein’s residence in his underwear. Dershowitz himself has been accused by one of Epstein’s victims of having sex with her on a number of occasions.

“Today I nominate Alan Dershowitz to lose his ability to nominate anyone for a Nobel Prize until he’s been cleared of all wrong doing in his criminal dealings with Jeffrey Epstein,” Pennsylvania State Representative Brian Sims tweeted in response to the nomination.

Government officials, professors, and foreign policy institution directors, among others, are able to nominate anyone of their choosing for the Nobel Peace Prize. Dershowitz has the power to do so as a Harvard Law School professor emeritus.

Kushner and his deputy, Avi Berkowitz, were nominated for the Peace Prize over their negotiations of the 2020 Abraham Accords, a series of symbolic normalization agreements signed between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain. The Abraham Accords were derided by critics as a PR stunt at the expense of Palestinians.

“What are the Abraham Accords but a publicity stunt designed to reward Israel for its breach of international law?” Samer Hassan wrote in the Jewish magazine Forward in September. “All ruthless governments work together. This has been the case for Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain for years. Now, it is just out in the open.”

The Nobel Peace Prize has previously been awarded to many controversial figures, including former President Barack Obama and former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

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