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

As both United States President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump try to convince Israel and Hamas to agree to a cease-fire agreement in Gaza, an unknown political newcomer to Trump’s incoming team has emerged as a key figure in ending the deal.

Steve Witkoff, a New York real estate developer and investor, was reportedly instrumental in conveying the message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Trump wanted the deal ready by the time he takes office next week.

Witkoff has been a friend of Trump for four decades. The two men played golf together and Witkoff was with the president-elect when he attempted to assassinate him on his golf course in Florida last September. Now, he is Trump’s Middle East envoy.

In addition to his business style and interests in the Middle East, Witcoff reportedly has Trump’s no-nonsense personality.

Last Saturday, when negotiators were nearing an agreement, Witkoff reached Netanyahu’s office to finalize the agreement but was told by aides that the Israeli leader would not be disturbed on Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest, reported the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Witkoff, who is Jewish himself, responded in “salty English”, saying he didn’t care what day it was. Netanyahu is bound.

“I think they heard him loud and clear: it’s better to do it legally,” Witkoff later told reporters about the deal, crediting Trump with a “better” delegation of power than anyone else.

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

Trump announced Witkoff as his incoming Middle East envoy shortly after winning the presidential election in November, and while his administration does not take office until Monday, Witkoff quickly became involved and traveled to Doha to participate in the months-long ceasefire talks.

Although he has no foreign policy experience or training, his appointment is in line with Trump’s preference for unconventional and less technical choices. “We have people who know everything about the Middle East, but they can’t speak well … 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 is NO LONGER a safe haven for terrorists”.

Witkoff attended Netanyahu’s 2024 speech to the US Congress, and praised the Israeli Prime Minister’s speech to US lawmakers as “strong”. “It was a historic moment to be in that room,” he said. When Biden temporarily suspended military aid to Israel last year, Witkoff took a break to raise money for Trump’s 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 shows a deep trust and loyalty that will give Witcoff a long chance to use the peace file in the Middle East,” Zaha Hassan, a political analyst and fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Al Jazeera. .

Hassan also noted that while some of Trump’s appointees to key roles in his administration tend to have strong pro-Israel views, “Witcoff’s things are still unclear”, he said. “What we know now is that he successfully helped end the fighting, which the Biden administration was unable to do for 15 months.”

Hassan also pointed to Witcoff’s business cooperation with the Gulf states as a background that could make him “a good seller of regional peace”.

“Given Trump’s desire to achieve a general Saudi-Israeli agreement and the Saudi requirement that such an agreement would have to include a Palestinian state or an irreversible path, there is hope that Trump, unlike Biden, will use the power of the presidency in the work of a real ‘deal of the century’,” he said. .

It’s political time

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 spokesman Matthew Miller said Trump’s team was “very important to getting this deal done”.

The Biden administration has tried to portray the talks as a bipartisan effort. “For the past few days, we’ve been talking as one team,” the president said with a nod to Witkoff. But Trump’s team pushed back, suggesting the administration was unable to make a deal until Witkoff intervened.

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

One official described McGurk’s collaboration with Witkoff as a “fruitful partnership”, with the two working closely together as they pressure teams to agree. In a critical situation last week, for example, Witkoff left negotiations in Doha and went to Israel to meet with Netanyahu, while McGurk stayed in Doha and continued to work with Qatari negotiators, who were the main liaisons with Hamas.

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

“I actually question the idea that Trump put some pressure on Netanyahu, although I think that’s something that some people would like to believe and maybe Trump would like people to believe,” Yousef Munayyer, a politician. Analyst and senior fellow at the Arab Center Washington DC, told Al Jazeera.

“I think the truth is that this was a deal that everyone knew had to happen and the only thing that the Israelis could really control was the timing of this deal and they went along with the American political times and brought Trump’s political victory – first in the election, by keeping the war going, then in his day of anointing.”

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 be giving the Israelis, especially Netanyahu, if they get the money.”