New book alleges Netanyahu helped Kushner hide UAE money in an Israeli bank

A new book by American journalist Matthew Cole alleges that Benjamin Netanyahu helped Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of Donald Trump, disguise money that Kushner received from the United Arab Emirates. According to Ynet, the Hebrew-language Israeli news site, Cole writes that Netanyahu encouraged Kushner to move funds from the Emirates into an account held at a bank in Israel, as part of an effort to conceal some $2 billion. The funds are described in the Ynet report as having been transferred by bin Zayed, a name shared by members of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi.

The book further claims, as Ynet summarised it, that Netanyahu took part in managing one of the accounts and insisted on being briefed before any transfers were made. Kushner rejected the account forcefully. Ynet quoted him in Hebrew as calling the claim completely insane. English-language Israeli outlets also picked up the story: The Times of Israel headlined its report on a secret Kushner fund containing billions from the UAE and Saudi Arabia, with Netanyahu's assistance, while The Jerusalem Post reported that Kushner had access to billions in Emirati and Saudi money, including through an Israeli bank account.

Who the people named are

Jared Kushner is married to Ivanka Trump and served as a senior adviser during Donald Trump's first term in the White House, where he was closely involved in Middle East policy. After leaving government he founded an investment firm that drew money from Gulf states. Benjamin Netanyahu is Israel's longest-serving prime minister and has had a close working relationship with Kushner for many years.

The name bin Zayed refers to the Al Nahyan family that rules Abu Dhabi, the largest of the seven emirates that make up the UAE. The Ynet report does not specify which member of the family the book refers to.

Why the Gulf connection matters

The UAE and Israel established formal diplomatic relations under the Abraham Accords, a set of normalisation agreements brokered by the Trump administration in which Kushner played a central role. Saudi Arabia has not formally recognised Israel, and normalisation between the two countries has long been a stated goal of both American and Israeli diplomacy. Allegations that a key American negotiator of those agreements held money from Gulf governments, with an Israeli leader's help, touch directly on the relationships at the centre of that diplomacy.

Where the reports differ

The three reports agree on the core allegation, that Kushner held Gulf money and that Netanyahu assisted, but they frame it differently. Ynet's account focuses on funds from the UAE and gives a specific figure of $2 billion for the concealment effort. The Times of Israel and The Jerusalem Post both refer more generally to billions of dollars and both name Saudi Arabia alongside the UAE as a source of the money. Ynet's summary does not mention Saudi funds. The English-language reports available to us consist mainly of headlines, so it is not clear how each outlet characterised the book's evidence in full.

The Hebrew phrasing in Ynet's report describes the destination as an account at a bank in Israel; The Jerusalem Post describes it as an Israeli bank account. Neither report available to us names the bank.

What the reports do not say

The material does not identify the title of Cole's book, its publisher or its publication date. It does not describe the sources Cole relied on, whether documents or interviews, or whether any of the claims have been confirmed by anyone other than the author. None of the reports available to us includes a response from Netanyahu or his office, or from the governments of the UAE or Saudi Arabia. It is also not stated when the alleged transfers took place, what the money was for, or whether any authority in Israel or the United States has examined the matter. Kushner's denial is the only on-the-record response in the material.