On January 7, 2025, President-elect Donald Trump had Steve Witkoff, Special Envoy to the Middle East, update his progress on negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
President-elect Trump’s incoming Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, is being credited with playing a key role in securing the ceasefire and hostage-release deal between Israel and Hamas before Trump returns to the White House next week.
While both the Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration applied strategic pressure to finalize the agreement, sources told Fox News Digital that a weekend meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Witkoff led to the breakthrough.
Then-President Trump and Steve Witkoff (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images/File)
Witkoff’s assurances reportedly convinced Netanyahu to accept the deal, despite threats from a right-wing party to withdraw from the coalition if it passed.
Israeli outlet Haaretz reported that during the meeting with Netanyahu, Witkoff “explained to his host in no uncertain terms that Trump expected him to agree to a deal.”
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“Let’s be clear: this deal would not have been struck without the forceful hand of President Trump and his Special Envoy @SteveWitkoff,” Trump’s incoming White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, wrote on X Tuesday. “Once again, peace through strength prevails.”
Steve Witkoff, founder and chief executive officer of Witkoff Group LLC, speaks during a campaign event with former President Trump at Madison Square Garden in New York on Oct. 27, 2024. (Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Given Witkoff’s background, he might seem like an unconventional pick to serve in a diplomatic role. The National reported that Witkoff “was not known to have any diplomatic or Middle East experience” before Trump tapped him for the position.
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Witkoff is a Jewish, billionaire real estate developer and investor who founded the Witkoff Group.
“Witkoff isn’t a diplomat. He doesn’t talk like a diplomat, he has no interest in diplomatic manners and diplomatic protocols,” a senior Israeli diplomat told Haaretz on the condition of anonymity. “He’s a businessman who wants to reach a deal quickly and charges ahead unusually aggressively.”
The Witkoff Group’s One High Line (One High Line/FOXBusiness)
Like Trump, Witkoff is originally from New York but moved to Florida in recent years.
Trump and Witkoff are close friends. Witkoff served in the first Trump administration’s Great American Economic Revival Industry Group to combat the economic impact of the pandemic, and he was also selected to co-chair Trump’s incoming inaugural committee.
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Witkoff is married and he and his wife had three sons, one of whom died due to a prescription drug overdose in 2011. Witkoff and one of his surviving sons both spoke at the Republican National Convention last summer.
FOX News’ Efrat Lachter, Danielle Wallace and Trey Yingst contributed to this report.
