Who is Steve Witkoff, Trump’s man at the Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks?

As both U.S. President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump have tried to claim credit for brokering a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, a relatively unknown political newcomer on Trump’s incoming team has emerged as a key figure in facilitating the agreement.

Steve Witkoff, a New York real estate developer and investor, reportedly played a significant role in conveying to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Trump’s desire to secure a deal before his inauguration next week. Witkoff is a four-decade-long friend of Trump, often playing golf with him, and was present when Trump narrowly escaped an assassination attempt at his Florida golf course last September. Now, he has become Trump's envoy to the Middle East.

Beyond his business acumen and personal interests in the Middle East, Witkoff reportedly shares Trump's blunt personality. Last Saturday, as negotiators moved closer to an agreement, Witkoff contacted Netanyahu’s office hoping to finalize the deal, but was informed by aides that the Israeli leader could not be disturbed during the Jewish Sabbath (Shabbat), according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Witkoff, who is Jewish, responded “in crude English” that he did not care what day it was. Netanyahu ultimately agreed.

“I think they clearly heard: better get it done before the inauguration,” Witkoff told reporters about the deal, praising Trump’s mandate as “better than anybody.” He also added, “He gave us a lot of authority.” Trump announced Witkoff as his incoming Middle East envoy shortly after winning the presidential election in November. Though his administration doesn’t take over until next Monday, Witkoff quickly intervened, traveling to Doha to participate in months-long ceasefire negotiations.

Despite having no foreign policy experience or training, Witkoff's appointment fits Trump's penchant for unconventional picks lacking in expertise. “We have a lot of people that know everything about the Middle East, and they can’t speak well… He’s a great negotiator,” the President-elect said of his friend. Following the announcement of the deal, Trump stated that Witkoff will continue to “work closely with Israel and our allies to ensure that Gaza never again becomes a safe haven for terrorists.”

Witkoff attended Netanyahu’s 2024 address to the U.S. Congress, praising the Israeli Prime Minister’s speech to U.S. lawmakers as “powerful.” He said, “It was great to be in that room.” Last year, when Biden temporarily suspended military aid to Israel, Witkoff seized the opportunity to fundraise for Trump’s campaign. Trump and Witkoff have been close and enduring friends since the 1980s.

Zaha Hassan, a political analyst and fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Al Jazeera that “the history and the longevity of the relationship suggest a deep level of trust and loyalty, which will give Witkoff a lot more leeway on the issue of Middle East peace.” Hassan also noted that while other Trump nominees for government positions tend to hold strong pro-Israel views, “Witkoff’s leanings are not yet clear.” She said, “What we know now is that he successfully helped negotiate a ceasefire agreement, something that the Biden administration has been unable to do in 15 months.”

Hassan also pointed out that Witkoff’s background in business dealings with Gulf countries may position him as a “good mediator for regional peace.” “Given that Trump wants to achieve a Saudi-Israeli normalization agreement, and that the Saudis have demanded that such an agreement must include a Palestinian state or an irreversible pathway to a Palestinian state, one hopes that Trump, unlike Biden, will use the leverage of the presidential office to serve a real ‘deal of the century,’” she said.

In the final days of negotiations, Witkoff worked closely with Biden’s team, including White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk. This week, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, speaking to reporters, said that Trump’s team was “critical to getting this deal done.” The Biden administration has tried to portray the negotiations as a bipartisan effort. “We’ve been in conversation as a team over the last several days,” the president said while giving a nod to Witkoff. But Trump’s team has pushed back, suggesting that the administration was unable to reach a deal until Witkoff intervened.

A Biden administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press that the administration wanted Witkoff involved in the negotiations so that the agreement would continue to have U.S. support after Biden leaves office next week. One official described McGurk and Witkoff’s coordination as a “productive partnership,” with the two working closely to urge all parties to reach a deal. For example, in a key moment last week, Witkoff left Doha to meet with Netanyahu in Israel while McGurk remained in Doha to continue working with Qatari negotiators, who were the primary interlocutors with Hamas.

While Trump’s team has tried to paint their involvement as crucial through Witkoff, some analysts are cautious about such claims. “I’m actually very skeptical of the claim that Trump put any particular pressure on Netanyahu, although I think there are people who want to believe that, and perhaps Trump wants people to believe that,” Yousef Munayyer, a senior fellow and political analyst at the Arab Center Washington, told Al Jazeera. “I think the reality is that this is a deal that everybody knew had to happen, and what the Israelis really had control over was the timing of it, and they operated around the U.S. political timeline to give Trump a political win — first by letting the war go on to win the election and then on his inauguration day.”

Munayyer added that it remains to be seen what the Trump administration will give Israel in return. “The question remains, what will Trump give the Israelis, and specifically Netanyahu, when they deliver on their end of the bargain?”