Progressive leaders in the foreign policy sphere are admitting that President-elect Donald Trump’s influence led to the cease-fire deal between Israel and terror group Hamas being struck this week.
Politico reported Thursday that these experts have recognized Trump’s role in getting the deal done, with some noting that President Biden didn’t have the stomach to do what should have been done months ago.
Center for International Policy executive vice president Matt Duss told the outlet that Trump “made clear he wanted this war to end and pressed Netanyahu on it in a way that Biden clearly wasn’t willing to do.”
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Israel and Hamas have agreed to a cease-fire deal this week that also ensures the release of hostages this week.
President Biden detailed the deal during a press conference on Wednesday, stating it “includes a full and complete cease-fire, withdrawal of Israeli forces from all the populated areas of Gaza, and the release of a number of hostages held by Hamas, including women and elderly and the wounded,” a “permanent end of the war,” and a “major reconstruction plan for Gaza will begin.”
IDF Reserve Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi told Fox News that the incoming president was one of the major reasons this deal was agreed upon, even though it had been on the table since May.
“Once President Trump threatened them, that if they don’t release hostages, there will be hell… I think they understand that if they don’t get a deal now, the chances of getting a good deal for them will be very, very low, if at all,” Avivi said on FNC’s “Your World.”
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White House National Security communications adviser John Kirby recognized Trump’s incoming Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff as a key figure in brokering the deal.
Trump last week warned Hamas that if all hostages weren’t released by the time he returns to office, “All hell will break out.”
Duss – who was once a foreign policy aide for Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.– told Politico how Trump’s involvement affected the deal.
“Trump has made clear what he wants, he has his own priorities, and I think it was clearly the unconditional support that Biden gave that provided cover for Netanyahu to continue to prosecute this war, and also that there would be no costs for ignoring either private or public criticisms from the United States,” he said.
Since Trump’s team joined, “That calculus has changed,” Duss noted.
Sandra Tamari, the executive director of Palestinian-led advocacy group Adalah Justice Project, admitted, “We see Trump really trying to show that he’s different than Biden, and that he’s playing a strong man role, and in this instance, that worked.”
Though he didn’t point to Trump’s influence directly, Dearborn, Michigan’s Wayne County Commissioner Sam Baydoun recognized that Biden couldn’t get the deal done in May, calling the failure “disappointing.”
“Thousands of innocent civilians could have been spared if we had implemented this cease-fire back in May,” he said. Still, he expressed relief that it was struck at all, saying on Thursday, “Today’s announcement is welcome news to all of us that this cycle of violence will end.”
Reps for Trump’s team and the Biden White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Joshua Comins contributed to this piece.
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