Steven Witcoff, a longtime friend of Donald Trump who has close ties to Qatar, stands behind the hostage deal.
By Rachel Avraham
In a recent Save the West webinar, Ken Abramowitz, an American Jewish commentator and author, stated that the hostage deal “is a disaster for Israel and for President Trump.” This is because of the clause requiring Israel to release Palestinian terrorists with Jewish blood on their hands in exchange for the hostages, a move that Abramowitz believes will adversely affect both Israel’s and America’s deterrence.
“I think what happened is that he brought in Steven Witcoff, a long-time friend of his, who did deals with Qatar.,” Abramowitz noted. “When you sell something, you want a high price and Qatar bought real estate for a good price. Qatar is a half friend, half enemy. We have to restructure our relationship with Qatar, for they are friendenemy, not friends. Trump wants a deal by his inauguration day or all hell would break lose. So, 80 percent of hell broke loose on Israel and 20 percent on Hamas. He never directed the all hell comments at the bad guys. Trump has to fire Witcoff. He does not know anything about foreign policy.” Witcoff lacks any credentials on foreign policy, but was appointed as Trump’s special envoy on the Middle East.
In August 2023, the Qatar Investment Authority, a sovereign wealth fund, purchased from Witkoff the 610-room Park Lane Hotel in Manhattan for roughly $623 million, equating to approximately $1.02 million per room, according to public records. Witkoff’s recent sale of the Park Lane Hotel to the Qatar Investment Authority reflects an approximate 17.5% discount compared to its 2013 purchase price, not accounting for inflation, the Jewish Press reported.
Last November, Jewish Insider noted that Witkoff’s previous financial dealings with Qatar, a country that has sought to influence him through its lobbying efforts, have raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest. Jewish Insider quoted Ben Baird, the director of advocacy for the Middle East Forum, who commented on Witkoff’s appointment: “One can’t help but wonder if there aren’t some geopolitics at play here. It’s not a sure bet how people like Witkoff are going to enact policies.”
According to various analysts, Witkoff is the main reason why the hostage deal is taking place. One meeting between Witkoff and Netanyahu apparently bore more fruit than a year of meetings between Netanyahu and Biden. This in term prompted Netanyahu to agree to what was previously unthinkable: releasing Palestinian terrorists with Jewish blood on their hands in exchange for the hostages. The Jerusalem Post reported that the Prime Minister of Qatar confirmed that 33 hostages will be released in the first phase of the hostage deal, which will go into effect on Sunday at noon: the women and children first, followed by the female soldiers, then men over the age of 50, and young men who are defined as “humanitarian cases.” In exchange, Israel will release about 2,000 convicted terrorists, including terrorists with Jewish blood on their hands, some of whom were supposed to serve life sentences.
Combat Antisemitism Movement CEO Sacha Roytman issued the following statement after the hostage deal emerged: “We are relieved that an agreement has been reached to free the Israeli hostages and look forward to seeing them reunited with their loved ones back home. For nearly 470 days, the hostages have endured unimaginable cruelty, with their fundamental human rights brutally denied to them by their Hamas captors.”
She added, “Hamas’ barbaric tactics, reducing innocent lives to macabre bargaining chips, stand in stark contrast to Israel’s unwavering commitment to humane values. While we are grateful to both the outgoing Biden and incoming Trump administrations for their efforts to broker this deal, we must note our deep concern over the imbalance of an equation where dozens of terrorists are exchanged for a single civilian or soldier.”
“This agreement highlights Israel’s dedication to its citizens while exposing Hamas’ gross disregard for human decency and international law,” Roytman noted. “The suffering of these hostages must serve as a call for the world to hold Hamas accountable for its crimes.” The Anti-Defamation League also issued a statement, proclaiming that they are worried that not everyone will get freed for the hostages are freed in phases rather than all at once, “We call on the incoming Trump Administration, and relevant global and regional actors, to make certain that Hamas upholds its commitments and releases all hostages. We reiterate our pledge to not rest until all 98 hostages held captive in Gaza are freed and returned to their families.”
Adv. Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, founder of the Shurat HaDin organization, which fights terrorism in the legal arena, stated in an interview with Arutz Sheva, “”Hamas is on the verge of collapse. We see that if the IDF is not in Gaza, Hamas finds a way to reestablish themselves very quickly. We entered this war not only to rescue the hostages, but to eradicate Hamas, and it will not happen if we pour new prisoners into it and withdraw from Gaza. If we leave the Philadelphi Route and allow the return of a million Palestinian residents to the northern Gaza Strip, we will lose all our achievements, and this is not what our dear soldiers who sacrificed their lives on the soil of Gaza fought for.”
“We cannot achieve a complete victory this way. We should have eradicated Hamas a long time ago. Every day we pay with the blood of our soldiers because we don’t stay there continuously. If the Chief of Staff can’t do it, let him leave and someone else can do the job. It is inconceivable that Israel will have a terrorist organization on its border, that continues to fire missiles and murder IDF soldiers, and continues to pose a threat to the country. We have to put an end to this,” concludes Darshan-Leitner.
