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

As both US President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump seek to claim Israel and Hamas’s approval of a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, a relatively unknown political newcomer to Trump’s new team has emerged as a key figure in the signing of the agreement highlighted.

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 completed by his inauguration next week.

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

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

Last Saturday, as negotiators inched closer to an agreement, Witkoff reached out to 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, the reported Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Witkoff, who is Jewish himself, responded “in salty English” and said he didn’t care what day it was. Netanyahu obliged.

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

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

Trump announced Witkoff as his new Middle East envoy shortly after his victory in the November presidential election, and although his administration does not take power until Monday, Witkoff quickly got involved, traveling to Doha to take part in the ceasefire negotiations that have been ongoing for months.

Although he has no foreign policy experience or training, his appointment is consistent with Trump’s preference for unconventional candidates with little expertise. “We have people who know everything about the Middle East but can’t 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 becomes a safe haven for terrorists again.”

Witkoff attended Netanyahu’s speech to the US Congress in 2024 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 halted military aid to Israel last year, Witkoff used the pause to raise funds for the Trump campaign.

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

“This history and the longevity of the relationship demonstrate deep trust and loyalty that will give Witcoff longer maneuverability in the Middle East peace deal,” Zaha Hassan, political analyst and fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Al Jazeera.

Hassan also pointed out that while others Trump has nominated to key positions in his administration have tended to hold 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 failed 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 one, there is some hope that Trump, unlike Biden, will use the influence of the “The presidency will be used in the service of a real ‘deal of the century,'” she said.

Political timing

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

The Biden administration has tried to portray the negotiations as a bipartisan effort. “Over the last few days, we have spoken as a team,” the president said, nodding to Witkoff. But Trump’s team has pushed back, suggesting the administration was unable to push through the deal until Witkoff intervened.

Biden administration officials, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, suggested that the administration wanted Witkoff included in the negotiations so that the resulting agreement would continue to have U.S. support after Biden resigned from office next week.

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

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

“I’m actually pretty skeptical about the idea that Trump is putting particular pressure on Netanyahu, although I think that’s a narrative that some people would like to believe and that Trump might want people to believe,” Yousef Munayyer said , a policy analyst and senior fellow at the Arab Center Washington DC, told Al Jazeera.

“I think the reality is that this was a deal that everyone knew had to happen, and the only thing the Israelis could really control was when this deal could happen, and they “In this way, we maneuvered around the timelines of American politics to deliver a political victory for Trump – first in the election by keeping the war going, and then on Inauguration Day.”

What remains to be seen, Munayyer added, is what the Trump administration has promised Israel in return.

“The question remains what kind of reward Trump will give the Israelis, and Netanyahu in particular, if they make money.”