Should Trump Get Credit for Ceasefire Deal?
The Gaza ceasefire deal, brokered with international support, has raised questions about credit for its success. Some argue Trump’s administration laid groundwork, while others credit Biden’s diplomacy.
… it’s not that Trump had a stick with which to beat Israel that Biden didn’t have; it’s that his presidency holds out the prospect of carrots that Biden would never offer. It was less the president-elect’s pressure than his potential promise that brought the Israeli far right onside.
Thanks largely to Trump, a deal demanded by the Israeli left and reviled by the right is about to come into effect. A year’s worth of diplomacy by the Biden administration is finally about to bear fruit on account of its political nemesis.
The truth may lie somewhere in the middle. According to a senior Biden administration official, Trump and Biden’s teams forged an unlikely partnership to secure the complex ceasefire during a transition marked by animosity and distrust.