Who is Steve Witkoff, Trump’s man in the Gaza ceasefire talks? | Donald Trump news

Both US President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump are trying to accept this credit Because they agreed with Israel and Hamas ceasefire agreement In Gaza, a relatively unknown political newcomer to Trump’s incoming team has emerged as a key figure in securing the deal.

New York real estate developer and investor Steve Witkoff is said to have played a key role in getting the message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Trump wants the deal done when he takes office next week.

Witkoff has been a friend of Trump for four decades. The two men play golf together, and Witkoff was with the president-elect during the election attempted assassination on a golf course in Florida last September. Now he is Trump’s Middle East representative.

In addition to his business style and personal interests in the Middle East, Witcoff reportedly shares Trump’s bold personality.

As negotiators neared a deal last Saturday, Witkoff approached Netanyahu’s office to finalize the deal, but aides said he could not disturb the Israeli leader on Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest, Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported. Witkoff, himself Jewish, responded in “salty English” and said he didn’t care what day it was. Netanyahu obliged.

“I think they heard him loud and clear: you better do a better inauguration,” Witkoff later told reporters of the deal, praising Trump for giving him a “better” mandate than anyone else.

“He gives us a lot of authority,” Witkoff said.

Trump named Witkoff as his Middle East envoy shortly after winning the November presidential election, and although his administration didn’t take over until Monday, Witkoff quickly stepped in and traveled to Doha to take part in months-long cease-fire talks. .

Although he has no foreign policy experience or training, his appointment is consistent with Trump’s preference for unconventional options. “We have people who know everything about the Middle East, but they can’t talk properly … he’s a great negotiator,” the president-elect said of his friend.

After the deal was announced, Trump said Witkoff “will continue to work closely with Israel and our allies to make sure that Gaza will NEVER again become a haven for terrorism.”

Witkoff attended Netanyahu’s 2024 address to the US Congress and called the Israeli prime minister’s speech to US lawmakers “powerful”. “Being in that room was epic,” he said. When Biden temporarily suspended military aid to Israel last year, Witkoff took a break to raise funds for the Trump campaign.

Trump and Witkoff share a close and enduring relationship, having known each other since the 1980s.

Political analyst and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Zaha Hassan told Al Jazeera: “The longevity of this history and relationship shows deep trust and loyalty, which will give Witcoff more room to maneuver on the Middle East peace document.”

Hasan also noted that while other Trump administration nominees have strong pro-Israel views, “Witcoff’s leanings are not yet clear.” “What we know now is that he successfully helped negotiate a cease-fire that the Biden administration failed to do for 15 months.”

Hasan also pointed to Witcoff’s business relationship with the Gulf states, which could potentially make him a “good broker for regional peace.”

“Given Trump’s desire to implement a Saudi-Israeli normalization agreement and the Saudi demand that such an agreement include a Palestinian state or an irreversible path to that state, there is hope that Trump will use the levers of office, unlike Biden. is at the service of the real “deal of the century” of the presidency.

Political timing

In the final days of the talks, Witkoff worked closely with Biden’s team, including Brett McGurk, the White House’s Middle East coordinator. Speaking to reporters this week, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Trump’s team was “absolutely critical in getting this deal done.”

The Biden administration has tried to portray the talks as a bipartisan effort. “We’ve been talking as a team for the last few days,” the president said with a nod to Witkoff. But Trump’s team pushed back, saying the administration couldn’t get the deal done unless Witkoff intervened.

Biden administration officials, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, suggested the administration wanted Witkoff to participate in the talks so that the resulting deal would see continued U.S. support after Biden leaves office next week.

One official described McGurk and Witkoff’s coordination as a “productive partnership” in which the two coordinated closely as they pressed the parties to reach an agreement. For example, at a critical juncture last week, Witkoff left the negotiations in Doha to travel to Israel to meet with Netanyahu, while McGurk remained in Doha and continued to work with Qatari negotiators, the main interlocutor with Hamas.

But while Trump’s team tried to portray Witkoff’s involvement as important, some analysts cautioned against that narrative.

“I’m actually skeptical that Trump is putting any particular pressure on Netanyahu, although that’s a story that some people want to believe and maybe Trump wants people to believe,” said political analyst Yousef Munayyer, senior fellow at the Washington Arab Center, Al- He told Jazeera TV.

“I think the reality is that it was a deal that everybody knew had to happen, and the only thing the Israelis could really control was the timing of when that deal could happen, and they maneuvered around the timelines of American politics. Give Trump a political victory—first in the election, by continuing the war, and then on his inauguration.

Munayyer added that what remains to be seen is what the Trump administration promises Israel.

“The question that remains is what kind of reward Trump will give the Israelis, especially Netanyahu, for cashing in.”