Jared Kushner, the senior advisor to President Donald Trump, was the keynote speaker of the Washington Institute’s 2019 Soref Symposium dinner. The on-the-record event, “Inside the Trump Administration’s Middle East Peace Effort: A Conversation With Jared Kushner,” took place on Thursday, May 2. Kushner was interviewed by Institute executive director Robert Satloff. Since becoming the President’s senior advisor, Kushner has traveled extensively in the Middle East and has met numerous times with the region’s key leaders. He has been present for major Middle East policy decisions, including moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and the U.S. recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. He has been central to the development of the administration’s Israeli-Palestinian peace plan.

Lag B’omer is celebrated Wednesday evening, May 22-23. The Omer is the Hebrew term for the 49-day period between the Jewish holidays of Passover and Shavuot. This period commemorates the Spring harvest, and at the end, the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people.

The states of the Eastern Mediterranean should pay close attention to the upcoming European parliamentary election, as its outcome will influence geostrategic and economic developments in that region. Israel, Cyprus, and Greece will have a major role to play in strengthening Western relationships in the region for decades to come.