Donald Trump wasted little time in taking credit for the ceasefire deal agreed between Israel and Hamas on Wednesday, bringing a halt to the violence in Gaza after 15 months of brutal conflict.
“This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November, as it signaled to the entire World that my Administration would seek Peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans, and our Allies,” the president-elect wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“I am thrilled American and Israeli hostages will be returning home to be reunited with their families and loved ones.
“With this deal in place, my National Security team, through the efforts of Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, will continue to work closely with Israel and our Allies to make sure Gaza NEVER again becomes a terrorist safe haven.
“We will continue promoting PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH throughout the region, as we build upon the momentum of this ceasefire to further expand the Historic Abraham Accords. This is only the beginning of great things to come for America, and indeed, the World!”
Not everyone agreed with Trump’s version of events, however.
President Joe Biden, flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, was asked about his successor’s response and answered: “Is that a joke?”
Biden stressed that the ceasefire had been based on a framework he “introduced” last May and declared: “This deal was developed and negotiated under my administration but its terms will be implemented for the most part by the next administration.
“I told my team to coordinate closely with the incoming team to make sure we’re all speaking with the same voice,” he added.
“Because that’s what American presidents do.”
Biden’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan also told reporters on Wednesday the administration had “coordinated very closely” with the incoming Trump team.
Doing so had enabled the US to “present a united message to all the parties, which says it is in the American national security interest – regardless of party, regardless of outgoing or incoming administration” to “get this deal done as fast as possible,” Sullivan said.
As part of that effort, Witkoff, the envoy alluded to by Trump, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the weekend while reports from diplomats involved in the negotiations have revealed that the incoming president played a key role in brokering the agreement by piling pressure on the Israeli government to accept it, something Biden had appeared reluctant to do.
“It’s not as if suddenly the terms have shifted significantly, it’s just that now you had an incoming US president that was willing to actually use some pressure,” ex-State Department aide Annelle Sheline told The Independent.
“This is a deal that, in its basic form, has been on the table for many months, and it is an absolute travesty that the Biden administration never used any of the massive leverage it had to push it over the finish line,” her former colleague Josh Paul added.
He said it was“clear” Trump’s team played a role in brokering the agreement but added: “How much of that was commission as opposed to Netanyahu’s desire to give Trump a ‘win’ – a desire that has probably been a consideration for him since very early in this conflict – remains to be known.”
The president-elect’s GOP allies on Capitol Hill have also been rushing to pat him on the back, with Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma telling The Independent Trump deserved “all of” the credit for the agreement while Senator Pete Ricketts of Nebraska observed: “People respect strength.”
Their Democratic counterparts, however, were, unsurprisingly, more inclined to acknowledge Biden’s contribution to the effort.
The Republican former and future president has a history of supporting Israel, relocating the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem during his first term as well as recognizing the Golan Heights as Israeli territory and pushing for the signing of the Abraham Accords to promote more harmonious relations with the country’s Arab neighbor states.
On the campaign trail last year, he also sought to shore up the American Jewish vote by warning the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas in September that Israel would be “gone” if Harris were elected president and repeatedly warned that Jews moved to vote Democrat need their “heads examined”.
He was also critical of the war in Gaza, however, emphasizing his belief that it needs to come to an end as soon as possible.
“You’ve got to get it over with, and you have to get back to normalcy,” he told radio’s The Hugh Hewitt Show in April.
