Washington: The long-sought, tortuously negotiated Gaza ceasefire deal announced on Wednesday came about in part through a remarkable collaboration between President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump, who temporarily put aside mutual animosity to achieve a mutual goal. The two presidents directed their advisers to work together to push Israel and Hamas over the finish line for a truce agreement.
Saif Ali Khan Health Update
The deal is set to start Sunday, the day before Biden turns over the White House to Trump.
Each president had his own interest in settling the matter before Inauguration Day. For Biden, the deal, if it holds, represents a final vindication on his watch. For Trump, the deal, for now, takes a major issue off the table, freeing him to pursue other priorities. The dramatic development cut against the natural grain in Washington, where presidents of opposing parties rarely work in tandem during a transition. But the political planets quickly returned to their normal orbits as both sides argued over who deserved credit for resolving the standoff.
While Biden waited for official word to come from the region, Trump got the jump on him by disclosing the deal himself in an all-caps social media post. “This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November,” he added soon afterward. By the time Biden appeared before cameras at the White House later in the afternoon, he was more gracious, noting that the two teams spoke with one voice. But he bristled when asked who merited credit, him or Trump. “Is that a joke?” he asked. He noted that the ceasefire was “the exact framework of the deal I proposed back in May”.
Still, the partnership, awkward and prickly as it was, stood out in an era of deep polarisation. “It really is extraordinary,” said Mara Rudman, who was deputy special envoy for Middle East peace under President Barack Obama. “Everybody’s talking about who gets credit, but the fact is that it’s shared, and part of the reason it worked is that it’s shared.”
However credit is ultimately apportioned, diplomats, officials and analysts said it seemed clear that both presidents had played important roles. The deal that was finally agreed to was essentially the same one that Biden had put on the table last May and that his envoys, led by Brett McGurk, his West Asia coordinator, had worked painstakingly to make acceptable to both sides. At the same time, Trump’s impending return to office and his threat that “all hell will break out” if the hostages were not released by the time he was sworn in clearly changed the calculations of the warring parties.
The coming change in political leadership in the US was not the only factor. The situation on the ground has changed dramatically: Israel has decapitated the leadership of Hamas, all but demolished its allied militia Hezbollah in Lebanon and taken out key military facilities in Iran.
