Who is Steve Witkoff, Trump’s man at the Gaza ceasefire talks?

As some United States President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump effort to instrumentality credit for Israel and Hamas agreeing to a ceasefire deal successful Gaza, a comparatively chartless governmental newcomer successful Trump’s incoming squad has emerged arsenic a cardinal fig successful sealing the deal.

Steve Witkoff, a New York existent property developer and investor, was reportedly instrumental successful delivering the connection to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Trump wanted the woody successful spot by the clip helium takes bureau adjacent week.

Witkoff has been a person of Trump for 4 decades. The 2 men play play unneurotic and Witkoff was with the president-elect during an assassination attempt astatine his Florida play people past September. Now, he’s Trump’s Middle East envoy.

In summation to his concern benignant and idiosyncratic interests successful the Middle East, Witcoff reportedly shares Trump’s brash personality.

Last Saturday, arsenic negotiators inched person to a deal, Witkoff reached retired to Netanyahu’s bureau to finalise the woody but was told by aides that the Israeli person could not beryllium disturbed during Shabbat, the Jewish time of rest, the Israeli paper Haaretz reported. Witkoff, who is Jewish himself, responded “in salty English”, saying that helium did not attraction what time it was. Netanyahu obliged.

“I deliberation they heard him large and clear: amended get done by the inaugural,” Witkoff aboriginal told reporters astir the deal, praising Trump for delegating “better” than anyone else.

“He gives america a batch of authority,” Witkoff added.

Trump announced Witkoff arsenic his incoming Middle East envoy soon aft winning the statesmanlike predetermination successful November, and portion his medication is not taking implicit until Monday, Witkoff rapidly got progressive and travelled to Doha to enactment successful ceasefire negotiations that had been continuing for months.

While helium has nary overseas argumentation acquisition oregon training, his assignment is successful enactment with Trump’s penchant for unconventional picks with small expertise. “We person radical that cognize everything astir the Middle East, but they can’t talk decently … helium is simply a large negotiator,” the president-elect said of his friend.

After the woody was announced, Trump said Witkoff would proceed “to enactment intimately with Israel and our Allies to marque definite Gaza NEVER again becomes a violent harmless haven”.

Witkoff attended Netanyahu’s 2024 code to the US Congress, and praised the Israeli Prime Minister’s code to US lawmakers arsenic “strong”. “It was epic to beryllium successful that room,” helium said. When Biden temporarily suspended subject assistance to Israel past year, Witkoff seized connected the intermission to fundraise for the Trump campaign.

Trump and Witkoff stock a adjacent and enduring relationship, having known each different since the 1980s.

“That past and the longevity of the narration indicates heavy spot and loyalty which volition springiness Witcoff a longer leash to manoeuvre connected the Middle East bid file,” Zaha Hassan, a governmental expert and chap astatine the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Al Jazeera.

Hassan besides noted that portion others Trump has nominated to cardinal roles successful his medication person tended to person beardown pro-Israel views, “Witcoff’s proclivities aren’t yet clear”, she said. “What we bash cognize present is that helium successfully helped negociate a ceasefire, thing the Biden medication couldn’t bash for 15 months.”

Hassan besides pointed to Witcoff’s concern dealings with Gulf states arsenic inheritance that could perchance marque him “a bully broker for determination peace”.

“Given Trump’s tendency successful realising a Saudi-Israeli normalisation statement and the Saudi request that specified a woody would person to see a Palestinian authorities oregon an irreversible way to one, immoderate anticipation exists that Trump, dissimilar Biden, volition usage the leverage of the bureau of the presidency successful the work of a existent ‘deal of the century’,” she said.

Political timing

During the last days of negotiations, Witkoff worked intimately with Biden’s team, including White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk. Speaking to reporters this week, Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller said that Trump’s squad “has been perfectly captious successful getting this woody implicit the line”.

The Biden medication has tried to represent the negotiations arsenic a bipartisan effort. “For the past fewer days, we person been speaking arsenic 1 team,” the president said successful a motion to Witkoff. But Trump’s squad has pushed back, suggesting that the medication couldn’t get the woody done until Witkoff intervened.

Biden medication officials who spoke to The Associated Press connected information of anonymity suggested that the medication wanted Witkoff to beryllium progressive successful the negotiations truthful that the resulting statement volition spot continued US enactment aft Biden leaves bureau adjacent week.

One authoritative described McGurk and Witkoff’s coordination arsenic a “fruitful partnership”, successful which the 2 intimately coordinated arsenic they pressed the parties to travel to terms. At a captious constituent past week, for instance, Witkoff near talks successful Doha for Israel to conscionable Netanyahu, portion McGurk stayed successful Doha and continued to enactment with Qatari negotiators, who were main interlocutors with Hamas.

But portion Trump’s squad person sought to represent their involvement, done Witkoff, arsenic essential, immoderate analysts cautioned against that narrative.

“I’m really rather sceptical of the thought that Trump enactment immoderate peculiar unit connected Netanyahu, adjacent though I deliberation that’s a communicative that immoderate folks would similar to judge and possibly that Trump would similar for radical to believe,” Yousef Munayyer, a governmental expert and elder chap astatine the Arab Center Washington DC, told Al Jazeera.

“I deliberation the world is that this was a woody that everyone knew had to hap and the lone happening that the Israelis could truly power was the timing of erstwhile this woody could hap and they manoeuvred successful specified a mode astir the timelines of American authorities to present a governmental triumph for Trump — archetypal successful the election, by keeping the warfare going, and past connected his inauguration day.”

What remains to beryllium seen, Munayyer added, is what the Trump medication had promised Israel successful return.

“The question that remains is what benignant of reward Trump volition beryllium giving to the Israelis, and Netanyahu successful particular, erstwhile they travel to currency in.”