Steve Witkoff: The real estate investor who sealed the Gaza ceasefire

Last Saturday, as ceasefire negotiations in Gaza reached a critical point, President-elect Donald Trump's Middle East envoy hoped to finalize an agreement with Benjamin Netanyahu. However, the Israeli leader's office stated that Netanyahu could not be disturbed during the Sabbath.

Steve Witkoff reportedly responded "brusquely," making it clear that he did not care if it was the Jewish Sabbath. According to a report in Haaretz, Witkoff stated that Trump wanted Israel to agree to a ceasefire, something that "Netanyahu had called a matter of life and death…suddenly disappeared."

So, who is Witkoff? This newly appointed Middle East envoy of Trump is a Republican and a Jewish-American billionaire real estate developer. His slightly nasal, soft voice belies his reputation as a tough negotiator, a skill he honed in his youth through leveraged loans at racetracks. He reportedly kept a pistol strapped to his ankle when he first entered the competitive New York real estate scene in the early 1990s, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal at the time.

Witkoff has been credited with pushing for the finalization of the ceasefire agreement. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani praised him in his Wednesday announcement of the deal, despite Trump's earlier claim of an "epic" ceasefire agreement. Notably, Witkoff's name came before that of Brett McGurk, the current envoy for the Biden administration. This New Yorker turned South Floridian has no formal diplomatic training, and his appointment reflects Trump’s disdain for traditional bureaucrats and policy experts who, while well-versed in the field and possessing graduate degrees in international relations, lack private sector experience.

"Some of these people know the Middle East very well, but they can’t talk straight... he’s a great negotiator," Trump said of his friend at a January press conference. There, Trump reiterated his infamous promise that if the hostages held in Gaza were not released before he took office on January 20th, the Middle East would "break out into hell." He growled at a reporter pressing for details, "You know what that means, do I need to define it for you?"

Witkoff may not have Trump's bluster, but the two golf buddies' friendship stretches back nearly four decades. Witkoff first met Trump in 1986, when he was a young real estate lawyer at a prominent law firm and the future president was a client. Colleagues say Witkoff was inspired by Trump to leave his corporate job and go into real estate. Witkoff initially bought small, low-rent apartments in the Bronx and Harlem during the 1987 real estate crash. His early deals were a far cry from the global deals he would later strike in the Gulf. He relied on loans from a small regional bank in Buffalo, New York, called M&T.

To cut costs, he did the labor on his buildings himself—reportedly even leaving a New Year's Eve dinner in 1992 to dig a sewage ditch. Like Trump, his real estate empire was built on debt and a tight circle of family, friends, and their relatives—some of whom he hired when they were out of work. “We fix the buildings, rent them, and then sell or refinance them,” Witkoff said in a 1998 interview with the Wall Street Journal. By then, Witkoff was a major player in New York real estate, with bodyguards and a sprawling office tower empire. The Witkoff Group's portfolio includes properties in New York, South Florida, and Los Angeles. One of his latest projects is The Shell Bay, a luxury golf development near Miami where one-bedroom apartments start at $1.9 million.

Like the Trump Organization, Witkoff’s company also has business ties to the energy-rich Gulf. In 2023, he sold the luxury Park Lane Hotel in Manhattan to the Qatar Investment Authority, the country’s sovereign wealth fund, for $623 million. Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund also holds a stake. Trump has appointed several Middle East experts to senior government positions who are often critical of Qatar and Islam. Witkoff’s incoming deputy, former State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus, has said she converted to Judaism in Saudi Arabia, where people "hate Jews." Trump appointed Eric Tager, a Republican Senate staffer, as the top National Security Council official for the Middle East, who has blasted Qatar for its alleged ties to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.

However, Witkoff rarely delves into the details of Middle Eastern culture and religion, or debates about groups like the Muslim Brotherhood. He is laser-focused on business and has generally praised the Gulf states. At the Qatar Economic Forum in 2024, he lauded Qatar as "very, really impressive," adding, "whoever did the master planning here did a great job…it's a solid government. The hotels here are spectacular." Witkoff has also expressed similar praise for the UAE’s pro-business agenda. In December, he spoke at Bitcoin MENA, a cryptocurrency conference in Abu Dhabi. Witkoff and Trump’s sons are co-founders of a crypto company called World Liberty.

Witkoff doesn't speak publicly often, but when he does, he is deliberate. Appearing on Fox News in January, when asked about the ceasefire negotiations, he said Trump’s "strong position, his determination that ‘hell would break out,’ is moving people." He added, “They [the hostages] are living in terrible conditions, it’s time for everyone to come home.” His comment that "there will be many Palestinians released as a result, and they will be going home to their families" was met with silence from Fox News host Sean Hannity. As Trump has indicated he will use the hostage deal to expand the 2020 Abraham Accords, Witkoff is likely to become more deeply involved in the world of Gulf politics and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

He has also stated that he wants to resolve tensions with Iran over nuclear weapons through “diplomacy... if people are willing to abide by their agreements,” but as a negotiator, he doesn’t show his hand too much: “We’re not going to have a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.”