US president-elect Donald Trump's nominated Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is already playing a key role in negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, even though his job does not officially begin until next week.
The billionaire real estate developer was in the Middle East at the weekend, when he visited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and joined mediators in Qatar as Israel and Hamas negotiate a final draft of the text for a ceasefire and hostage-detainee exchange deal.
The proposed deal is not substantively different from the one first put forward by the Biden administration in May last year. Israel and Hamas have accused each other of sabotaging the agreement whenever it appeared to be near finalised.
Mr Trump, who takes office on Monday, last week said “all hell will break out in the Middle East” if the remaining hostages are not released by the time he is sworn in. According to The Times of Israel and other Israeli outlets, Mr Witkoff leaned hard on Mr Netanyahu to accept the deal when the two met in Israel on Saturday.
Speaking alongside Mr Trump in Florida last week, Mr Witkoff, 67, made his first appearance on the world stage as the incoming Middle East envoy.
He said he was “really hopeful” that he and his team would “have some good things to announce” by Mr Trump's January 20 inauguration in Washington.
Mr Trump, also a New York real estate developer, gave the first hint that Mr Witkoff might play a key role in a second Trump presidency during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last year.
In a speech at the RNC, Mr Witkoff paid tribute to his friend and made it clear that the two men shared a deep and meaningful bond, describing him as a “kind and compassionate man”.
Mr Witkoff is the president-elect’s golf partner and was with Mr Trump when he was the target of a second attempted assassination at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, in September. His son recently named his child after Mr Trump, a move that touched the president-elect.
“Congratulations to Zach and Sophi Witkoff on the birth of their son, Don James Witkoff (DJW), named after me (Thank you),” Mr Trump said on Truth Social.
Before his selection for Middle East envoy, Mr Witkoff was not known to have any diplomatic or Middle East experience. Mr Trump described him as “a highly respected leader in business and philanthropy, who has made every project and community he has been involved with stronger and more prosperous".
“Steve will be an unrelenting voice for peace, and make us all proud,” the president-elect said in a statement.
The fact that Mr Witkoff shares such a strong and public bond with Mr Trump will probably allow those with whom he interacts to know that he speaks on the president's behalf, which is key for any diplomat to be successful.
