Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was pushed into accepting a Gaza ceasefire deal with Hamas following pressure from a team appointed by incoming US President Donald Trump, according to reports.
Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, held ‘tense’ meetings with Netanyahu in Israel after taking part in ceasefire negotiations in Doha, according to reports, and were key to the recent breakthrough that has been 15 months in the making.
Witkoff and his team did more to ‘persuade’ Netanyahu to accept the deal, than the outgoing Joe Biden administration did in the last 15 months, according to Arab officials.
“A deal could have been reached much earlier, but both sides led to talks falling apart at various times,” one Arab official told The Times of Israel.
Trump reportedly wants a ceasefire in Gaza in place before his inauguration on 20 January and dispatched Witkoff to Qatar and Israel to push Netanyahu to accept compromises needed to achieve a deal with Hamas.
Israel has repeatedly torpedoed previous ceasefire deals with unrealistic demands. The Arab officials rejected Washington’s repeated blame of Hamas for the failure of a ceasefire agreement earlier, saying the fault lies at Israel’s door.
Further details of Witkoff’s meeting with Netanyahu highlight a tougher approach toward the Israeli leader by Trump officials than the Biden administration although the premier was reportedly given several enticements to sweeten the deal including the expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Netanyahu reportedly tried to rebuff the meeting by claiming it was the Sabbath, an excuse Witkoff swiftly rebuffed, pointing out he had Jewish members of his team willing to work on the day of rest.
The exchange hints at how business might be done between Trump and Netanyahu when the Republican leader takes to the White House next week.
 “Witkoff isn’t a diplomat. He doesn’t talk like a diplomat, he has no interest in diplomatic manners and diplomatic protocols,” a source told Haaretz.
“He’s a businessman who wants to reach a deal quickly and charges ahead unusually aggressively.”
While Trump is considered to be the most “pro-Israel” president in US history, he has an acrimonious relationship with Netanyahu, particularly after Israel acknowledged Joe Biden’s election win in 2020.
Last week, Trump shared a video describing Netanyahu as a “deep, dark son of a b*tch” amid questions over whether the Israeli PM had been invited to the incoming US president’s inauguration in Washington next week.
