As both U.S. President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump seek to take credit for Israel and Hamas agreeing to the cease-fire in Gaza, a relatively unknown political newcomer to Trump’s incoming team seals the deal. He emerged as a key figure.
Steve Witkoff, a New York real estate developer and investor, was reportedly instrumental in getting Trump’s message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he wanted a deal done before he takes office next week.
Witkoff has been a friend of President Trump for 40 years. The two play golf together, and Witkoff was with him during an assassination attempt at a Florida golf course last September. He currently serves as President Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East.
In addition to his business style and personal interest in the Middle East, Witkoff reportedly shares Trump’s brash personality.
Last Saturday, as negotiators were inching closer to an agreement, Prime Minister Witkoff contacted Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office to finalize an agreement, but aides told him that the They were told they could not interfere with the leadership, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported. Witkoff, who is Jewish himself, responded “in broken English” and said he didn’t care what day it was. Prime Minister Netanyahu obliged.
“I think they heard him loud and clear: It’s better to get it done by Inauguration Day,” Witkoff later told reporters about the deal, adding that Trump was “a better choice than anyone else.” ” He praised him for delegating.
“He gives us a lot of authority,” Witkoff added.
President Trump announced Witkoff as his next special envoy to the Middle East shortly after winning the November presidential election, and while the administration does not take over until Monday, Witkoff quickly became involved and helped negotiate a ceasefire that had been going on for months. I went to Doha to participate.
Although he has no foreign policy experience or training, his appointment is in line with President Trump’s preference for unconventional candidates with little expertise. “We have people who know everything about the Middle East, but they can’t speak properly… He’s a great negotiator,” the president-elect said of his friend.
After announcing the agreement, President Trump said Witkoff “will continue to work closely with Israel and our allies to ensure that Gaza is never again a safe haven for terrorists.”
Witkoff attended Prime Minister Netanyahu’s 2024 address to the US Congress and praised the Israeli prime minister’s speech to US lawmakers, calling it “powerful.” “It was awesome to be in that room,” he said. When Biden suspended military aid to Israel last year, Witkoff used the suspension to raise money for the Trump campaign.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Witkoff have known each other since the 1980s and share a close and enduring relationship.
“Their history and length of the relationship indicates deep trust and loyalty, and Mr. Witkoff will likely have a longer leash on Middle East peace issues,” said Zaha, a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace fellow and political analyst.・Hassan told Al Jazeera. .
Hassan also noted that other people Trump has nominated to important positions in his administration tend to have strong pro-Israel views, but “Mr. Witkoff’s inclinations are not yet clear.” “What we now know is that he successfully helped negotiate a ceasefire, which the Biden administration has not been able to do for 15 months.”
Mr. Hassan also cited Mr. Witkoff’s business dealings with Gulf states as a reason why he could be a “good broker for regional peace.”
“President Trump’s desire for a Saudi-Israeli normalization agreement and the Saudi demand that such an agreement must include participation in a Palestinian state or an irreversible path to a Palestinian state. “There is also an expectation that President Trump, unlike Biden, will use his administration’s influence to “lead the presidency toward a true ‘deal of the century,'” she said.
political timing
In the final days of negotiations, Witkoff worked closely with Biden’s team, including White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGuirk. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters this week that Trump’s team “has played a pivotal role in getting this deal over the line.”
The Biden administration has sought to portray the negotiations as a bipartisan effort. “For the last few days, we’ve been talking as one team,” the president said, nodding to Witkoff. But Mr. Trump’s team pushed back, suggesting the administration could not close a deal until Mr. Witkoff intervened.
Biden administration officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity said the administration was willing to negotiate with Witkoff to ensure continued U.S. support for the resulting deal after the president leaves office next week. indicated that they would like to participate.
One official described the collaboration between Mr. McGuirk and Mr. Witkoff as a “fruitful partnership,” with the two working closely to push the parties to an agreement. At a critical juncture last week, for example, Mr. Witkoff left Israel’s Doha talks to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while Mr. McGuirk remained in Doha and spoke with negotiators from Qatar, Hamas’s main interlocutor. We continued to cooperate.
But while Mr. Trump’s team, through Mr. Witkoff, sought to portray its involvement as essential, some analysts cautioned against such language.
“I’m actually quite skeptical of the idea that President Trump put special pressure on Prime Minister Netanyahu,” he said. “I think they would like it,” said politician Youssef Mounayar. An analyst and senior fellow at the Washington DC Arab Center told Al Jazeera.
“The reality is that this is a deal that everyone knew had to happen, and the only thing that the Israelis really have control over is the timing of when this deal happens, and they’re not going to let the US I think it was a maneuver to circumvent the political timeline and do that.”Give Trump a political victory — first by continuing the war in the election, then by delivering victory on Inauguration Day. ”
Munayer added that it remains to be seen what the Trump administration has promised Israel.
“The question that remains is what President Trump will give in return when the Israelis, especially Prime Minister Netanyahu, come to make money.”