While President Joe Biden claimed credit for the cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas, President-elect Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff reportedly led key negotiations last week.
At a news conference Wednesday, Biden praised national security officials who had been unable to reach a deal for months, but one reporter asked whether Biden or Trump deserved credit for reaching a deal.
“Are you kidding me?” Biden responded, stepping away from reporters.
At a press conference, Biden credited “many peacemakers” who helped bring the deal to fruition, including outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, and Vice President Kamala Harris, who was instrumental in reaching the deal. I admitted it.
Only after praising his administration after 15 months of failed attempts to build a deal did Biden mention his team's recent coordination with the incoming Trump administration.
“I also want to note that although this agreement was developed and negotiated under my administration, most of its terms will be implemented by the next administration. “We've been talking about it,” he said.
In fact, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported “Analysis | Trump Middle East envoy forced Prime Minister Netanyahu to accept Gaza plan he repeatedly rejected,” said Witkoff, who came from the private sector as a real estate investor and was able to take the lead last week thanks to the Biden administration. . Haaretz political correspondent Chaim Levinson reported on Monday:
A week before President Trump's inauguration, Jerusalem is already seeing the rules of the game change and the deadlock in hostage negotiations broken. Unusually, the outgoing Biden administration gave Witkoff control of the process on the grounds that the United States' obligations fell to Trump, not Biden.
Witkoff is a Jewish real estate investor and developer close to Trump. He does not have the background of someone who would normally play the role of a diplomat. Witkoff is not a diplomat. He doesn't speak like a diplomat and has no interest in diplomatic manners or protocol,'' said a senior Israeli diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity. “He wants to reach an agreement quickly and is an unusually aggressive businessman.”
Pulitzer Prize-winning independent journalist Glenn Greenwald is the show's host. system update, He said there was an apparent “coincidence” in the timing of the agreement and that Israeli media had given Trump credit for the deal.
“Israeli media reports that Israel accepted the peace deal because of President Trump. The Israeli right-wing is claiming that President Trump is to blame. Even anti-Trump media outlets in the US (such as the NYT) was a key factor,” Greenwald wrote in a post to X.
“Biden is the only one who claims he got it done. It's a huge coincidence that it didn't happen until Trump won.”
Biden pointed out Wednesday that the deal, which he offered in May, is consistent with Haaretz's report that Witkoff “forced Israel to accept the plan.” [Prime Minister Benjamin] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly refused over the past six months. ”
Trump announced the agreement in a post on Truth Social ahead of Biden's press conference.
“There is an agreement regarding hostages in the Middle East. Will be released soon. Thank you!” he wrote.
In a second post, he wrote, “The grand ceasefire agreement could only have come about as a result of the historic victory in November, which is the result of our administration's commitment to seek peace and ensure the safety of all Americans. “It was a demonstration to the whole world that we will negotiate a deal.” and our allies. ”
