President Donald Trump vowed to do what his predecessors could not: broker a lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. But to achieve such a historic truce, Trump tapped Jared Kushner, his 38-year-old son-in-law, who has no prior government experience.

Now nearly three years into his presidency, Trump’s “ultimate deal” remains elusive. Kushner’s effort, meanwhile, has been dogged by fierce criticism, key departures, political turmoil in Israel, and rising tensions in the Persian Gulf.

In June, VICE founder Shane Smith traveled to Bahrain to attend Kushner’s Peace to Prosperity workshop, hailed by the White House as a key moment in Trump’s push for a new Middle East peace plan. But Kushner’s long-awaited “economic vision” was overshadowed by a Palestinian boycott, and a standoff between Iran and the U.S. after oil tankers were attacked and a U.S. surveillance drone was shot down in Iranian airspace.

Shane sat down with Kushner to discuss the plan, and a divided Middle East.

“You can't really sign a document or make peace and then expect people to love each other when they've been fighting for so long,” Kushner said.