NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s chief Israel adviser doesn’t believe in briefing books or in sharing topical news articles with his boss. He has no formal background in foreign policy. And his most extensive writing about the Middle East comes in the form of a family travel guide to Israel that he penned with his wife.

What Jason Greenblatt does have is a fierce loyalty to Donald J. Trump.


Greenblatt, 49, is the chief legal officer at the Trump Organization and an executive vice president there. He also now serves as one of Trump’s top advisers on Israel and is helping to spearhead a nascent Israel Advisory Committee for the Trump campaign.

In an hourlong conversation with POLITICO this week, his first extensive interview with a secular outlet, Greenblatt painted a picture of life inside the Trump Organization where efficiency is prized over nuance and depth, where loyalty outweighs experience and passion trumps traditional credentials.

“There are lots of experts, over decades, who have lived in the policy world, have lived in the world of diplomacy and government,” Greenblatt said, speaking in a gold-hued conference room on the 26th floor of Trump Tower in Manhattan and waving off questions about his inexperience. “Not to diminish their role, but are we any closer to achieving the peace process? Are we any closer to achieving peace?”

Greenblatt, an observant, yarmulke-wearing real estate lawyer educated at Yeshiva University and New York University School of Law, cares deeply about Israel. But he acknowledges that he hardly has the qualifications or the contacts typical of a presidential nominee’s top policy advisers, especially those advising on an issue as charged and complex as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

That doesn’t bother the mild-mannered Greenblatt, who said that it will ultimately be Trump deciding strategy — and it certainly doesn’t bother Trump, who has sought to turn his own lack of political experience into a virtue on the campaign trail.

Trump has already made clear that he defers to Greenblatt on thorny issues involving Israel, alarming some veterans of pro-Israel politics who were already deeply skeptical of Trump’s grasp of the subject and don’t believe one’s religion and affection for Israel have much bearing on effectively guiding foreign policy.

“To me it’s almost degrading to say, just because you’re Jewish, you know this,” said Lisa Spies, who ran Jewish outreach for Mitt Romney in 2012 and works extensively with pro-Israel donors. “This is degrading to people who actually do this professionally.”

Added one knowledgeable Republican active in pro-Israel circles and hostile to Trump, “They’re unserious in every dimension of policy. Why would Israel policy be different?”

Others, however, are relieved that Trump is surrounding himself by staunchly pro-Israel voices. After all, Trump has already made several major missteps with the Jewish and pro-Israel communities, from promising to be “neutral” on Israel and the Palestinians to telling a group of Republican Jews they wouldn’t like him because he didn’t want their money to apparently shrugging off anti-Semitic comments from his supporters.

In addition to Greenblatt, Trump clearly listens closely to his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, on matters of Israel, and Kushner is deeply involved in Trump’s efforts, playing a major role in crafting the relatively well-received speech that Trump read off a teleprompter at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s major conference earlier this year.

But it is Greenblatt who has been tasked with assembling something that the campaign has dubbed an Israel Advisory Committee, along with David Friedman, another Orthodox Jewish lawyer who has assisted Trump in bankruptcy proceedings. Friedman is better-known in political circles in the New York-New Jersey area; Greenblatt, who lives in Teaneck, New Jersey, is less so. But Greenblatt is considered, by those who have encountered him, smart and devoted to Israel and his community, though by no means a fixture at pro-Israel fundraisers or gatherings.

“We’re fortunate he didn’t call a guy who just wants to be called, ‘Your Excellency,’ and think he can start making a policy,” said a prominent Republican member of the Orthodox Jewish community who is familiar with both Friedman and Greenblatt and personally very critical of Trump. “These guys are accomplished individuals. They’re apparently modest enough that they’re not going to rewrite Middle East policy … we are super lucky those are the guys identified.”

Greenblatt said that more experienced policy hands will be added to the advisory committee, though he declined to name names or offer examples of thinkers he or Trump admired on the issue.

“While I have more people giving me opinions, advice, knowledge, the end result, when you filter through, is I’m not any more equipped to deal with the situation than I was a couple months ago,” he said, pointing to the stalemate in the peace process, which he strongly emphasized in a follow-up call is the fault of the Palestinians, in his view. “Because there’s nothing to deal with right now.”

The group’s only other officially announced member is Dr. Richard Roberts, a conservative pro-Israel donor from New Jersey.

“I’m the one charged with writing the policies on the Israel-U.S. relationship, first drafts of them. I’m doing work with many, many experts. Then, as I make progress along the way, I’m putting it to these two guys [Greenblatt and Friedman] for their comments, edits, changes, approval,” Roberts said, declining to name the experts with whom he has consulted, though noting that he has not consulted AIPAC, the more conservative Zionist Organization of America, or former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren, who now serves in the Israel government but has many American contacts.

But don’t expect to see detailed position papers, outlining Trump’s philosophy on issues like foreign aid or a two-state solution, anytime soon.

“When we see what happens, then we make a decision whether we want to write a position paper or something like that,” Greenblatt said. “At the moment, so much is up in the air right now, to write a position paper, it ends up being a complete waste of time. It isn’t necessarily the best use of time.”

So far, Trump has a 51-second video on his website about his view on Israel. It appears inconsistent with the view pushed by his advisers and the GOP platform: The platform, shepherded in part by Greenblatt and Friedman, removes language calling for a two-state solution, and Greenblatt stressed in the interview that Trump wouldn’t pressure Israel to make peace with the Palestinians, deferring instead to the two parties on the ground.

But in the video on his website, Trump is insistent that a deal must be reached between the two sides.

“I want to remain as neutral as possible, because if I’m not somewhat neutral the other side is never going to do it,” he says, choosing a word — neutral — that caused him major headaches earlier this year among some in the pro-Israel community. “But just remember: Israel, I love you. We’re going to see if we can get something done. It has to be done for both sides. It cannot continue to be the way that it is. Let’s see what we can negotiate.”

***

Greenblatt’s debut as Trump’s Israel adviser came in April, when the GOP candidate summoned him to a meeting at Trump Tower with Orthodox Jewish activists and some Jewish reporters.

“Jason has been with me for many years, he is a very religious person, to put it mildly,” Trump told the room. “I’m very proud of him. He’s been a great lawyer for a long time.”

During the 20-minute conversation, he kicked tough questions about settlements and the West Bank to Greenblatt, who did spend some time as a yeshiva student living in the West Bank.

“He really knows it, he would understand it better than me, know it better than me, so I do rely on him as a consultant on Israel,” Trump said at the time.

Since then, Greenblatt, who works two doors down from Trump on the executive floor of Trump Tower — a burgundy-and-gold-trimmed space where even the blinds sparkle with gold flecks —has immersed himself in helping Trump understand and communicate about Israel.

Their process is simple: When Greenblatt wants to flag a development, he walks down the hallway and into Trump’s office to fill him in.

“I don’t share briefing materials,” Greenblatt said. “I’m two doors down from him, so I don’t need to email him. Even in transactions, I’m not a person who gives him articles to read. I know how to brief him in a way that’s efficient, that gets all the points across. He digests very quickly. He’s remarkably brilliant when it comes to briefings, how fast he picks things up, so I don’t need to share articles with him.”

It’s a sharp departure from the lengthy policy sessions, full of briefing books and expert commentary, that more traditional candidates, from presidential to congressional hopefuls, often receive.

Hillary Clinton, Trump’s rival and a former secretary of state, receives an email update each morning about events taking place around the world and a download on what her foreign policy aides are hearing; she also gets frequent “deeper-dive analysis memos” and “monthly update memos that give her a sense of what’s happening around the world ... not just the ‘what,’ but the analysis of what’s happening and what may be over the horizon,” a campaign aide said.

Clinton is in close touch with her advisers, many of whom come from the highest ranks of the foreign policy world. And she has frequent, lengthy discussions about policy with Jake Sullivan, one of her top aides while she served as secretary, who is now a senior policy adviser. Clinton will also frequently send articles and flag emerging stories to her advisers, often through early-morning communications.

Trump, too, will proactively raise questions. But Greenblatt doesn’t see a need to carve out long periods of time to help Trump study up on an issue.

“There’s nothing specifically that would require a block of 30 minutes,” Greenblatt said, adding, “If a terror attack happens, I’ll pop my head into his office, I’ll alert him to it and he’ll immediately ask for something to be put out.”

Greenblatt has also emerged as a character witness for Trump, repeatedly seeking to bat down concerns about anti-Semitism among Trump’s supporters by personally vouching for him — evincing the loyalty Trump prizes so deeply in the people close to him. He was vocal late this spring in defending Trump when several Jewish journalists (including one who works for POLITICO Magazine) faced anti-Semitic online attacks from people who said they were supporting Trump.

And as Trump came under fire for tweeting, deleting and then defending an image that many found anti-Semitic (a six-pointed star next to an image of Hillary Clinton, overlaying images of money), Greenblatt took to the op-ed pages of he Washington Post to argue that Trump has been respectful of his time-consuming religious observance, encouraging him to observe the Sabbath. That’s proof, he suggested, that Trump respects Jewish people and is no anti-Semite. After all, he is the grandfather of Jewish children — Ivanka Trump converted after meeting Kushner.

Asked about the star controversy — which Trump insisted, as he doubled down on the decision to tweet it last month, was merely a sheriff’s star, not a star of David — Greenblatt said that while he didn’t personally find it anti-Semitic, “I happen to favor the fact that they took it down. I think it wasn’t worth the controversy that it caused.”

Donald Trump addresses the annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in March. | Getty

But he maintained that Trump is a friend of the Jewish people and shouldn’t be held responsible for what people claiming to be his supporters say. Greenblatt has received nasty pushback online, too, for working for Trump — but he hasn’t asked for a condemnation from his boss.

“I do get vicious hate directed at me, as being like a Jew who works for Hitler,” Greenblatt said. “Which is absolutely disgusting, equally vile to what Jewish journalists get. I haven’t asked him to condemn that. I don’t think he needs to.”

But many in the Jewish community have been deeply offended by the sense that Trump has vocal support from anti-Semites, and that he has not always repudiated them when given the opportunity. For example, he was asked directly on CNN whether he would tell his supporters to stop using anti-Semitic rhetoric — and he refused (at other times, including under pressure from the Anti-Defamation League, he has released statements distancing himself from anti-Semitic supporters including David Duke).

“Jewish donors are very nervous he’s trying to appease the neo-Nazi crowd — that’s very, very scary,” Spies said, going on to add, “For people who believe that way to be a large group of his supporters, for him to welcome those people, is very, very frightening.”

The ADL head said of Trump earlier this year, “Maybe not since George Wallace have we seen a candidate who has so welcomed all these radical elements into the fold.”

Trump’s Israel adviser rejects all of it.

“He’s very pro-Israel, he’s not a divisive person, he’s very pro-Jewish causes, so for people to suggest he’s not or that he’s anti-Semitic or supports those who are anti-Semitic by using their memes and tweets is just a false charge,” Greenblatt said. “Therefore there’s nothing to apologize for.”

If that defiant message sounds a lot like Trump, it’s an anomaly. On many levels, Greenblatt and his boss couldn’t be more different. In contrast to his brash, thrice-married boss, Greenblatt is a soft-spoken man of deep faith who runs a parenting blog with his wife, Naomi, a psychiatrist who focuses on women’s mental health issues. They write often about teaching their six children ethics and integrity. (Greenblatt’s bio on the site describes him as “a parent just like you,” and does not mention his day job.)

“He’s just a very down-to-earth, extraordinary parent who cares deeply about his community, about things we should all be taking seriously,” said Allen Fagin, executive vice president of the Orthodox Union, who knows Greenblatt through his work with an Orthodox youth group.

The stark contrasts in tone apply to politics as well. Greenblatt, who he said he believes he voted for Bill Clinton and has donated to Sen. Chuck Schumer, did not vote for Barack Obama and is “somewhat disappointed” in how the president has governed. But he was “very, very excited” to see Obama, the first African-American president, take the White House. In contrast, Trump spent months demanding to see Obama’s birth certificate.

And while Trump maintains a hard-line posture toward Syrian refugees and undocumented immigrants, Greenblatt is the son of Jewish refugees from Europe and has openly celebrated his immigrant heritage, calling America a place that gave “refuge” to his family members, who “benefited tremendously by being able to raise the next generation in freedom.”

“Perhaps I would say things differently,” he allowed, when pressed on whether he had ever encouraged Trump to soften his tone toward today’s refugees, many of them Muslim. “But I’m not running for president, nor do I have the skills to run for president. It’s really hard for me to answer that question when I don’t have the skill set to guide him on how to become the president.”

Greenblatt’s family story is one that resonates with many Jewish voters who also come from refugee backgrounds — and many of them, part of a long-persecuted religious minority themselves, have been deeply bothered by Trump’s vitriol toward undocumented immigrants and his calls for a Muslim ban. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was critical of Trump’s Muslim ban proposal last December, and Trump ultimately canceled a planned trip to Israel amid the controversy.

Greenblatt attempted to soft-pedal Trump’s views on immigration, emphasizing Trump’s interest in legal immigration.

In fact, Trump has expressly called for a ban on Muslim migration — and this summer said he was now expanding that ban to include immigrants from countries “compromised” by terrorism.

When POLITICO noted this to Greenblatt, he replied, “I don’t think he would put a block on Muslims. What he has said is we need a temporary pause to understand how we screen the people.”

Trump has so far been unclear on which countries, in his view, have been “compromised” by terrorism. But Greenblatt swatted down the notion that Israel would be included, though the country has a large Muslim population and routinely suffers from terrorist attacks. He had no comment on Jordan and Egypt, two countries in the region that have peace agreements with Israel.

“Has an Israeli immigrant ever committed an act of terrorism in Europe or the U.S.? I don’t think so,” he said. “I think he thinks Israel suffers from terrorism, I doubt he thinks Israel’s been compromised by terrorism.”

As Greenblatt’s hour with POLITICO wrapped up, he was asked if he wanted to add anything.

“We live as free people, we live in a way that we should be extremely grateful for,” he said. “I just wish people would be more respectful in dialogue, especially on social media.”

Those remarks came hours after Trump took to Twitter to accuse Khizr Khan, the Muslim father of Capt. Humayun Khan, a fallen American soldier, of “viciously” attacking him at the Democratic National Convention the week before. And they came days after Trump taunted Ghazala Khan, the soldier’s mother, for standing silently at the convention next to her husband.

Did Greenblatt’s hope apply to his boss — specifically, his remarks about Ghazala Khan?

Greenblatt called Captain Khan a “hero” — but when pressed a third time about Trump’s remarks, he reverted to a posture that comes easily to him: lawyer mode.

“I need to watch that piece of the interview,” he demurred. “I’m not one to make rash judgments.”

