As US President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump attempt to take credit for the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, a relatively unknown political newcomer to the incoming team of Trump emerged as a key figure in securing the deal.
Steve Witkoff, a New York real estate developer and investor, was reportedly instrumental in delivering the message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Trump wanted the deal completed before he takes office next week.
Witkoff has been a friend of Trump for four decades. The two play golf together and Witkoff was alongside the president-elect during an assassination attempt at his Florida golf course last September. He is now Trump’s Middle East envoy.
Besides his business style and personal interests in the Middle East, Witcoff apparently shares Trump’s brash personality.
Last Saturday, as negotiators moved closer to a deal, Witkoff contacted Netanyahu’s office to finalize the deal, but was told by aides that the Israeli leader could not be disturbed on Shabbat, the day of rest. Jewish, reported the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Witkoff, who is Jewish himself, responded “in salty English,” saying he didn’t care about the day. Netanyahu agreed.
“I think they heard it loud and clear: It better be done before the inauguration,” Witkoff told reporters of the deal, praising Trump for delegating “better” than anyone.
“He gives us a lot of authority,” Witkoff added.
Trump announced Witkoff as his new Middle East envoy shortly after winning the presidential election in November, and although his administration would not take office until Monday, Witkoff quickly got involved and traveled to Doha to participate to the ceasefire negotiations which had been going on for months.
Although he has no experience or training in foreign policy, his nomination fits Trump’s preference for unconventional picks with little expertise. “We have people who know everything about the Middle East, but they don’t know how to speak properly… he’s a great negotiator,” the president-elect said of his friend.
After announcing the deal, Trump said Witkoff would continue “to work closely with Israel and our allies to ensure that Gaza NEVER becomes a haven for terrorists again.”
Witkoff attended Netanyahu’s speech to the US Congress in 2024 and praised the Israeli prime minister’s speech to US lawmakers as “strong.” “It was epic to be in that room,” he said. When Biden temporarily suspended military aid to Israel last year, Witkoff used the pause to raise money for the Trump campaign.
Trump and Witkoff have enjoyed a close and lasting relationship, having known each other since the 1980s.
“This history and the longevity of the relationship indicate a deep trust and loyalty that will give Witcoff greater freedom to maneuver on the Middle East peace file,” Zaha Hassan, a political analyst and member, told Al Jazeera of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. .
Hassan also noted that while other Trump appointees to key positions in his administration tend to have strong pro-Israel views, “Witcoff’s leanings are not yet clear,” she said. . “What we know now is that he successfully helped negotiate a ceasefire, something the Biden administration was unable to do for 15 months.”
Hassan also highlighted Witcoff’s business relations with Gulf states as a context that could potentially make him “a good negotiator for regional peace.”
“Given Trump’s desire for a Saudi-Israeli normalization deal and the Saudi demand that such a deal include a Palestinian state or an irreversible path to such a state, there is some hope that Trump, unlike to Biden, will use the influence of his office. of the presidency in the service of a true “deal of the century”,” she declared.
Political calendar
In the final days of negotiations, Witkoff worked closely with Biden’s team, including White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk. Speaking to reporters this week, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Trump’s team “played an absolutely critical role in making this deal happen.”
The Biden administration has tried to present the negotiations as a bipartisan effort. “In recent days, we have spoken as one team,” the president said with a wink to Witkoff. But Trump’s team pushed back, suggesting the administration couldn’t close the deal without Witkoff’s intervention.
Biden administration officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity suggested that the administration wanted Witkoff involved in the negotiations so that the resulting deal would have continued U.S. support after Biden leaves office next week.
One official described the coordination between McGurk and Witkoff as a “successful partnership,” in which the two men coordinated closely while pressuring the parties to reach an agreement. For example, at a critical moment last week, Witkoff left the Doha negotiations for Israel to meet with Netanyahu, while McGurk remained in Doha and continued working with Qatari negotiators, who were Hamas’ main interlocutors.
But while Trump’s team has sought to present its involvement, through Witkoff, as essential, some analysts have cautioned against that narrative.
“I’m actually quite skeptical of the idea that Trump put any particular pressure on Netanyahu, although I think it’s a narrative that some people would like to believe and maybe Trump would like people to believe,” said Yousef Munayyer, a political official. analyst and senior researcher at the Arab Center in Washington DC, told Al Jazeera.
“I think the reality is that this was a deal that everyone knew had to be made and the only thing the Israelis could really control was when this deal could be made and they maneuvered in such a way around the timelines of American politics to deliver a political victory for Trump – first in the election, by continuing the war, and then on his inauguration day.”
What remains to be seen, Munayyer added, is what the Trump administration has promised Israel in return.
“The question that remains is what kind of reward Trump will give to the Israelis, and Netanyahu in particular, when they come to take advantage. »
