Can Jared Kushner navigate Middle East peace without top secret clearance?il

Kushner, who along with being the son-in-law of President Donald Trump carries the titles of assistant to the president, senior adviser to the president and director of the Office of American Innovation, had his security clearance downgraded. John Kelly, the White House chief of staff, made good on a promise to remove interim top-secret clearance from staffers who have yet to be cleared by the FBI.

What prompted the delay in clearing Kushner has not been disclosed, although the Kushner family real estate business is known to be in debt and have financial entanglements overseas. Perhaps not coincidentally, when news of the downgrade broke Tuesday, the Washington Post quoted U.S. officials as saying that officials in four nations — the United Arab Emirates, China, Mexico and Israel — have said that they see Kushner as “manipulable” through his business interests and inexperience in foreign affairs.

What does this mean for the proposal to revive Israeli-Palestinian talks that Kushner and his team are said to be releasing “soon”?

We talked to four former U.S. officials — all had top-level clearance when they served in the executive branch — to get their take.

Read the full article in JTA.