Who is Steve Witkoff, Trump’s man on Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks? | News about Donald Trump

As President of the United States Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump are trying to do credit because Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, a relatively unknown political newcomer to Trump’s incoming team has emerged as a key figure in brokering the deal.

Steve Witkoff, a New York real estate developer and investor, reportedly played a key role in getting the message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Trump wanted the deal done by the time he takes office next week.

Witkoff has been a friend of Trump for four decades. The two play golf together, and Witkoff was with the president-elect during the course assassination attempt at his golf course in Florida last September. He is now Trump’s Middle East envoy.

Aside from his business style and personal interests in the Middle East, Witcoff reportedly shares Trump’s brash personality.

Last Saturday, as negotiators neared a deal, Witkoff contacted Netanyahu’s office to finalize the deal, but was told by aides that the Israeli leader could not be disturbed during Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported. Witkoff, himself Jewish, responded in “salty English,” saying he didn’t care what day it was. Netanyahu is obliged.

“I think they heard him loud and clear: We’d better get it done by the inauguration,” Witkoff later told reporters of the deal, praising Trump for delegating “better” than anyone else.

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

Trump announced Witkoff as his next Middle East envoy shortly after winning the presidential election in November, and while his administration won’t take office until Monday, Witkoff quickly stepped in and traveled to Doha to take part in months-long ceasefire talks .

Although he has no foreign policy experience or training, his appointment is in line with Trump’s penchant 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 the deal was announced, Trump said Witkoff would continue to “work closely with Israel and our allies to ensure that Gaza NEVER again becomes a safe haven for terrorists.”

Witkoff attended Netanyahu’s 2024 address to the US Congress and praised the Israeli prime minister’s speech to US lawmakers as “powerful”. “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 funds for the Trump campaign.

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

“That history and the longevity of the relationship indicate a deep trust and loyalty that will give Witcoff a longer leash to maneuver on the Middle East peace file,” Zaha Hassan, a political analyst and fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Al Jazeera. .

Hassan also noted that while others Trump has nominated for key roles in his administration have tended 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 pointed to Witcoff’s business dealings with Gulf states as a background that 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 must include a Palestinian state or an irreversible path to it, there is hope that Trump, unlike Biden, will use the power of his office. presidency in the service of the real ‘deal of the century’,” she said.

Political timing

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

The Biden administration tried to portray the negotiations as a bipartisan effort. “We’ve been talking as a team for the past few days,” the president said with a nod to Witkoff. But Trump’s team fired back, suggesting the administration couldn’t have made the deal until Witkoff intervened.

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 US support after Biden leaves office next week.

One official described the coordination between McGurk and Witkoff as a “fruitful partnership,” in which the two coordinated closely while pressuring the parties to come to an agreement. At a critical juncture last week, for example, Witkoff left the Doha talks for Israel to meet with Netanyahu, while McGurk remained in Doha and continued to work with Qatari negotiators, who were the main interlocutors with Hamas.

But while Trump’s team has sought to portray its involvement, through Witkoff, as key, some analysts caution against that story.

“I’m actually quite skeptical of the idea that Trump has put any particular pressure on Netanyahu, although I think that’s the story that some people would like to believe and maybe Trump would like people to believe,” Yousef Munayyer, political expert analyst and senior associate at the Washington DC Arab Center, he told Al Jazeera.

“I think the reality is that this was a deal that everybody knew had to happen and the only thing that the Israelis could really control was when this deal could happen and that’s how they maneuvered around the time frames of American politics. to bring about a political victory for Trump — first in the election, by holding 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 reward Trump will give the Israelis, and especially Netanyahu, when they come to cash in.”