US President Joe Biden's popularity has fallen below 40% (AP)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Joe Biden played a key role in pushing for a temporary truce agreement linked to the release of 50 Israeli hostages held by Hamas, including 3 Americans, according to US sources.
The sources pointed to Biden's intervention to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of his cabinet. After negotiations stalled on November 12 in protest against Israel's storming of Shifa Hospital, Biden spoke to the emir of Qatar, and sent his assistant for Middle East affairs, Bert McGurk, to Doha and Cairo to review the details of the deal that Israel and Hamas agreed to at dawn on Wednesday.
President Biden's approval rating has fallen sharply below 40 percent, a warning omen ahead of a heated election season, and that figure was affected by 70 percent of Americans affirming their rejection of Biden's handling of the Gaza war.
American Celebration
The US president adopted a position that was identical with the Israeli position since the first day of the aggression on the Gaza Strip, and rejected all calls for a ceasefire, justifying this by saying that reaching this ceasefire is a victory for Hamas.
As Americans prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow, the American media celebrated the news of a deal between Israel and Hamas, and highlighted the presence of 3 Americans among those released, and considered this a success for President Biden's position on the Gaza crisis.
Biden issued a statement after the deal was announced and said that as president of the United States, "I have no higher priority than ensuring the safety of Americans held hostage around the world. That's why, from the very first moments of Hamas's brutal attack, my national security team and I have worked closely with regional partners to do everything we can to secure the release of our citizens."
"Today's deal is a testament to the tireless diplomacy and determination of many dedicated individuals throughout the U.S. government to bring Americans home."
American diplomats and experts – who spoke to Al Jazeera Net – believe that the Biden team dealt skillfully with the negotiation file, while leaving a large space for Qatar and Egypt to play a direct role and communicate with Hamas leaders, while the Biden administration turned to pressure his Israeli ally.
Ambassador David Mack, former US assistant secretary of state for Middle East affairs, said that Biden succeeded in working with Qatar and Israel, and indirectly with Hamas, and was able to get an agreement to exchange hostages for Palestinian detainees, adding that "the focus on women and children is a noteworthy point, and I think this will play well with the domestic public opinion of the United States."
Democratic opposition
Mack noted that Biden faces growing rejection from within his own party, particularly from younger Democrats and Arab Americans, two groups that voted heavily for Biden in 2020.
Charles Dunn, a former White House and State Department official, an expert at the Middle East Institute and a lecturer at George Washington University, told Al Jazeera Net that "some credit is certainly due to Biden, as the administration was pushing for the hostage deal. It is surprising to me that Hamas apparently accepted a 1-for-3 deal."
As for "Ask Rad," a researcher at the Eurasia Group Foundation, she explained – to Al Jazeera Net – that Biden can be given some credit behind the American role in brokering this deal, however, the administration has much more influence that it chooses not to use, and instead, Israel gave its full support despite the massive civilian casualties and international outcry.
In turn, strategic affairs expert and director of the Foundation for Gulf States Studies Giorgio Cafiro, in an interview with Al Jazeera Net, that the agreement brokered by Qatar between Israel and Hamas is important and represents the most important diplomatic breakthrough since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza last month.
In addition to Qatar, other actors such as Egypt have done a great job to bring Israel and Hamas to this point. Cafero said the Israeli government agreed to this because of the increasing political pressure domestically in Israel and the fact that the war on Gaza has significantly damaged its economy since last month.
After launching military operations against Gaza without any realistic endgame strategy, this 4-day pause could give the Israeli government an opportunity to discuss the next steps.
Criticism
On the other hand, there has been some criticism of the deal, with John Bolton, the former national security adviser, expressing anger at the agreement and attacking Biden, tweeting on the X platform that "negotiating with terrorists never works. Biden's insistence that Israel bargain with Hamas is as tragic a mistake as he did by exchanging $6 billion with Iran for 5 American hostages."
"If Hamas were civilized, it would never have taken hostages. However, it is quite barbaric. The strategic goal of Israel and the United States must remain the destruction of Hamas terrorism."
Dylan Williams, a former congressional official and vice president of the Center for International Policy in Washington, responded to Bolton's tweet, saying that "at this sensitive moment — when Israelis pray for their loved ones to finally return home and the bombing of Palestinian children stops — it is certain that someone (meaning Bolton), with his record of epic foreign policy failures, is trying to destroy that glimmer of hope."
Ambassador Mack expressed an optimistic outlook and stated that making tangible progress toward Biden's vision for a long-term two-state solution requires revitalizing and reforming the Palestinian Authority so that it can effectively negotiate with the Israeli government, and that Arab governments have the leverage to push for these changes.
If that happens, he said, it will add strength to the view that Israel needs a new government committed to a two-state solution, and if these changes occur, Biden could be "a new peacemaker in the history books."
Charles Dunn believes it would be a great success "if this deal signals a broader ceasefire, but Israel seems to have made clear that it will continue the war on Hamas when this temporary truce ends."
For his part, strategic affairs expert Giorgio Caffero said that the most ideal situation is to extend this pause, eventually becoming a permanent cessation of hostilities. Israeli officials have made clear that there will be an extension if Hamas releases more hostages.
He added that it was unclear what concessions, other than extending the cessation of hostilities, Hamas would demand in exchange for the release of more hostages. "We hope that Qatari and Egyptian diplomats, and others, can build on this breakthrough and ensure that this pause in the carnage can become a permanent ceasefire."
Source : Al Jazeera