When President-elect Donald J. Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday to press him for a Gaza cease-fire agreement, there was someone on the speakerphone: Brett H. McGurk , President Biden’s longtime Middle East negotiator.
Mr. McGurk was in Doha, Qatar, leading the latest round of ceasefire negotiations.
It was a vivid example of cooperation between two men who represented bitter political rivals. Rarely, if ever, have teams of current and incoming presidents of different parties worked together in such a big moment, with the fate of American lives and the future of a devastating war hanging in the balance.
Both Mr. Trump as well as Mr. Biden publicly claimed credit for the discovery.
“This epic ceasefire agreement could only have happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November,” wrote Mr. Trump on his social media site before the Middle East deal was even officially announced.
At the White House, Mr. Biden told reporters that his administration had worked tirelessly for months to get the two sides to stop fighting. He called it “one of the toughest negotiations I’ve ever experienced” and credited “an outstanding team of American diplomats who worked nonstop for months to make this happen.”
As he left the room, a reporter asked Mr. Biden: “Who’s to blame for this, Mr. President, you or Trump?” Mr. Biden paused, turned and smiled.
“Is this funny?” he asked.
But despite the tension between the current president and the next, their Middle East counterparts have described a cooperative partnership in the weeks since Election Day.
“Brett is in charge,” said Mr. Witkoff last week at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump in Florida, describing the working relationship. This description was deemed accurate by both camps, even if it did not match what Mr. Trump moments earlier in one of several statements describing his negotiators as critical players.
In fact, the threat of Mr. Trump’s warning that “all hell” would break loose if no deal was reached before his inauguration on Monday may have helped the Hamas leadership make final decisions. But people familiar with the negotiations said Wednesday’s announcement of an agreement to temporarily end hostilities in Gaza was the result of months of work by Mr. McGurk in the Middle East, limited by several weeks of carefully coordinated efforts by Mr. Vitkov.
The 67-year-old Mr. Witkoff, a raw real estate investor from the Bronx, has largely settled in Qatar for the negotiations, knowing that whatever Mr. McGurk, he should run it. In fact, the 33 hostages to be released under the cease-fire agreement may not be free until Inauguration Day or beyond. The ceasefire will expire six weeks later, unless Phase 2 of the agreement is launched.
By design, the aim was to send a unified message that the fighting must end and the hostages held by Hamas must be released. A person familiar with the negotiations, who like others spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the discussions, said Mr. McGurk was more involved in disseminating details of the deal, while the role of Mr. Witkoff was to make it clear that Mr. Trump wanted a deal by the time it was inaugurated.
The president-elect also set some early parameters in his dealings with Mr. Netanyahu – who, for all his support for Mr. Trump in the election, he was seen by the Trump camp as dragging his feet on a deal. Mr. Witkoff flew to Israel from Doha on Saturday – despite the Sabbath – to underline the message that Mr. Netanyahu had to take on board.
The work of Mr. Witkoff, including meeting with Mr. Netanyahu, helped Mr. McGurk and the Biden administration to put pressure on both sides during the negotiation, according to the person familiar with the talks.
In a press release Wednesday afternoon after the ceasefire agreement was announced, Mr. Netanyahu praised Mr. Trump, thanking him for his “help in promoting the release of the hostages and for helping Israel end the suffering of the dozens of hostages and their families.”
The report of Mr. Biden only made the last line of the release, saying the prime minister “also thanked him for his help in pushing the hostage deal.”
It was not at all clear in the days immediately following the second term of Mr. Trump that the Trump and Biden teams could work together. The relationship was further strained by the Trump team’s determination to purge career White House staff and the Biden team’s last-minute orders to box in the new administration.
In his remarks on Wednesday, Mr. Biden acknowledged some level of cooperation and respect between their aides.
“This agreement was developed and negotiated under my administration, but its terms will be largely implemented by the next government,” said Mr. Biden to reporters. “For the last few days, we’ve been talking as a team.”
But he did not give any more credit to Mr. Trump for helping the effort. For his part, the president-elect said he was “thrilled” that the American hostages would be freed, but did not mention Mr. Biden or the work of the current administration.
“We have accomplished so much without even being in the White House,” wrote Mr. Trump. “Imagine all the wonderful things that will happen when I get back.”
Mr. McGurk and Mr. Witkoff began meeting on the cease-fire agreement shortly after Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump spoke for two hours in the Oval Office two days after Mr. Trump’s election victory. Trump, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.
Mr. McGurk regularly briefed Mr. Witkoff on the progress of negotiations in the Middle East, the person said, and called Mr. Witkoff to join him in Doha for the final round of negotiations last week, he said. it was an “incredibly efficient” process.
Biden administration officials have said they believe the push for a deal began when Mr. Biden helped broker a separate deal to end the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. That isolated Hamas and helped convince the group that the ceasefire was in its best interest, according to Biden officials.
However, a person close to the talks admitted that the partnership between Mr. McGurk and Mr. Witkoff was proof of what can be accomplished when political differences are put aside — even temporarily.
