U.S. officials who resigned over the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza slammed the outgoing president for failing to broker a ceasefire sooner, after President-elect Donald Trump played a key role in securing an end to the devastating 15-month conflict.
“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,” Josh Paul, who resigned from the State Department’s in opposition to America’s policy of providing lethal arms to Israel for use in Gaza, said.
The agreement “demonstrates clearly that Biden could have achieved a ceasefire all along if his people were really serious about it,” Annelle Sheline, who resigned from the State Department in February 2024, told The Independent.
The historic ceasefire was announced Wednesday after 466 days of fighting in the Middle East — with the multi-phase planning including the gradual return of all hostages taken in the October 7 attacks, and a full withdrawal of all Israeli troops from Gaza.
Reports from diplomats involved in the negotiations reveal that Trump played a key role in brokering the agreement by piling pressure on the Israeli government to accept the deal — something President Biden had been unable or unwilling to do, much to the frustration of his former officials.
“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,” Sheline, who resigned from the Biden administration over the president’s refusal to lean on the Israeli government to prevent more bloodshed in Gaza, said.
Tariq Habash, the first administration appointee to resign in protest over the war, also pointed the finger at Biden, calling it “a failure of the Biden administration that it took so long for us to get to this point.”
“I don’t think that the Biden administration was prioritizing reaching a deal expediently,” Habash, a Palestinian-American political appointee at the Department of Education, said.
“I think that if they wanted to, they would have leveraged some real influence, particularly with [Israeli prime minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and the Israeli government, and I think that Biden and his advisors made a decision that that was not something that they’re willing to do that allowed for the continuation of the violence against Palestinian civilians for over 15 months,” Habash added.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Monday that Trump’s incoming Middle East envoy Steven Witkoff heaped pressure on Netanyahu to accept a deal that he had rejected numerous times over the past year. The paper described “a change in the rules of the game that has broken the deadlock in the hostage negotiations.”
Paul, who left the State Department’s Bureau of Political Military Affairs in the first month of the war, told The Independent it was “clear” that Trump’s team played a role in brokering the agreement.
“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,” he said.
The outgoing Biden administration took the unusual step of letting Trump’s team take a lead role in negotiations, Haaretz reported.
The Washington Post also cited a diplomat briefed on the ceasefire negotiations crediting the influence of Trump’s team, saying it was “the first time there has been real pressure on the Israeli side to accept a deal.”
Biden made only a passing remark about the involvement of Trump’s team when announcing the deal.
“This deal was developed and negotiated under my administration, but its terms will be implemented, for the most part, by the next administration,” he said. “In these past few days, we have been speaking as one team.”
When asked by a reporter who takes credit for the deal, him or Trump, Biden replied: “Is that a joke?”
Biden could have achieved a ceasefire all along if his people were really serious about it
Shortly after the news broke, Trump posted on Truth Social: “We have a deal for the hostages in the Middle East. They will be released shortly. Thank you!”
While the former officials celebrated the proposed pause in fighting, Sheline said she believed Trump’s interest in forging peace may not last beyond his inauguration.
“Unfortunately, I think that Trump just wants this for his inauguration. It will be a temporary reprieve. That is to be celebrated, but I expect that Israel will resume its genocidal campaign of violence as soon as the inauguration is over and Trump has been able to say ‘I did what Biden couldn’t,’” she said.
She added that it was in Netanyahu’s interests to give Trump a win because he has long-term plans for other parts of the Palestinian territories that will require Trump’s support.
“There is likely an understanding that Trump will help him get what he wants, that being the annexation of the West Bank,” she said.
Paul, too, expressed caution.
“As important as a ceasefire is, what is even more important is what comes next: not only must the ceasefire be maintained, but there must be a real effort, backed by an international commitment, to surge humanitarian assistance into Gaza, to pursue justice and accountability on behalf of all who have suffered since and before October 2023, to begin rebuilding the lost cities and towns of Gaza, and to achieve a just and lasting peace,” he said.
Habash said his initial reaction was that the deal was “great news” and urged more action.
“We should all be celebrating the end to violence that continues to perpetuate the unequal treatment of all people,” he said. “And I think if there is a deal that can both stop the killing of Palestinian civilians, stop the starvation, and also return hostages, both Palestinian and Israeli, I think that is extremely important in a step towards lasting peace.”
