Biden or Trump – Who Should Claim Credit for the Gaza Ceasefire Agreement? | American politics

The question shouted at Joe Biden by a reporter was unapologetically direct: “Who do you think deserves credit for this Mr. President: you or (Donald) Trump?”

Biden had just finished announcing what he touted as his signature foreign policy achievement — a ceasefire-for-hostages deal between Israel and Hamas to halt the bloody war in Gaza that has left 46,000 Palestinians and 1,700 Israelis dead. He was in no mood for that debate.

“Is this a joke?” the president asked, then walked away flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Success has many fathers. When the ceasefire in Gaza was finally announced on Thursday, they all rose to take the credit.

Biden said at a news conference that the ceasefire was “developed and negotiated by my team and will be largely implemented by the incoming administration.” When he praised his diplomats, he became wistful: “The Bible says that blessed are the peacemakers. Many peacemakers helped make this deal happen.”

But there was little public soul-searching about why the plan he had proposed in May — the “exact” plan Biden reminded reporters of — was finally accepted just days before Donald Trump’s inauguration.

That fact did not escape the attention of President-elect Trump. “This EPIC cease-fire agreement could only have happened as a result of our historic victory in November, when it signaled to the world that my administration would seek peace and negotiate agreements to ensure the safety of all Americans and our allies,” he said. in a post on Truth Social, a social media network.

The truth may lie somewhere in the middle. According to a senior Biden administration official, Trump and Biden’s teams forged an unlikely partnership to secure the complex truce during a transition marked by animosity and mistrust.

When the deal was announced Wednesday, there were even notes of bonhomie between the rival teams, with Biden administration officials praising the partnership between diplomat Brett McGurk and Trump’s envoy to the region, Steve Witkoff.

“It was really quite remarkable,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations.

Biden had told Trump he wanted to work together to secure a deal when the two met in the Oval Office shortly after Trump’s surprise election victory in November, according to the official.

In the final days of talks this month, Witkoff, who has no formal position in the government, was invited to travel to Doha along with Biden administration officials attending the talks.

In an extraordinary moment, the official said, Witkoff was sent on his own to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a high-stakes bid to convince him to enter into the cease-fire agreement.

The meeting between Witkoff and Netanyahu, which took place during sabbath over the initial objections of Netanyahu’s aides, was described as “tense,” according to Israeli media. Reports said Witkoff put pressure on Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire deal for hostages and accept key concessions to end the war more quickly.

“I thought it was pretty effective,” the Biden administration official said.

The Times of Israel, citing its own sources, put it less charitably for the Biden camp: “Arab officials: Trump envoy influenced Netanyahu more in one meeting than Biden did all year.”

In his public statements about the deal, Netanyahu appeared to dismiss Biden, calling President Trump first to thank him “for his help in promoting the release of the hostages and helping Israel bring an end to the suffering of dozens of hostages and their families.”

After relaying plans to come to Washington to meet with Trump to discuss the situation around Gaza, he added a brief line about his work with Biden: “Prime Minister Netanyahu then spoke with US President Joe Biden and also thanked him for his help to move on with the hostage-trafficking.”

Leaked details of the meeting between Netanyahu and Witkoff may have elements of “theatrics to give Netanyahu cover to finally agree to a deal,” said Matt Duss, the executive vice president at the Center for International Policy and a former foreign policy adviser to Senator Bernie Sanders. I also think the fact is that Netanyahu understands that Trump is coming into office. He has made it clear that he wants this war to end, and Trump is operating on a very different calculus than Biden.”

“Biden has always made it clear that no matter what Netanyahu does, he will continue to have unconditional, unwavering American support,” he said. “Netanyahu can’t be sure about that with Trump.”

In the US, Biden has faced attacks from both the right and the left over his handling of the war, as well as anger among officials who felt the US did not put enough pressure on Israel to halt its campaign in Gaza.

Dozens of State Department officials have publicly and privately railed against the administration’s handling of the war, arguing that the refusal of Biden and his aides to threaten to cut off arms and other aid to Israel during the war may have prolonged the military campaign . .

A Pentagon official previously told the Guardian that the ceasefire “was driven by Trump’s team … and Biden, Blinken and the entire administration ensured its legacy as an enabler.”

Pro-Trump Republicans have been equally scathing about Biden’s efforts to end the war, even as they have chastised him for being too soft on Hamas.

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said Thursday that the deal was “encouraging, but obviously we know that President Biden has not been the best negotiator when it comes to these deals.”

Trump had previously warned that “hell will break loose in the Middle East” if no deal was reached before his inauguration.

When asked whether those threats may have led to the truce, Cornyn replied: “I don’t believe in coincidences. So I think President Trump had an influence on this deal. And obviously the Biden administration is eager to end this .”

Still, the sharpest anger at Biden over the war has been expressed by progressives, who have said the administration’s overwhelming support for Israel may have both prolonged the war and cost the Harris campaign crucial votes on the left in the November election.

The truce had come too late, some said, and would do little to cut Biden’s legacy on foreign policy.

“No one will buy that Biden delivered this truce. No one,” Duss said. “He continued to give Netanyahu political cover even though Netanyahu repeatedly undermined the possibility of a truce.”