Even before US President Joe Biden announced the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, his attempt to score a major foreign policy victory in the final days of his administration was overshadowed by his political nemesis Donald Trump.

Trump, who will be sworn in as the 47th US president next week, announced in a statement from the White House on Wednesday evening that a deal had been reached on his Truth Social platform, hours before Biden confirmed the agreement.

“This EPIC ceasefire agreement could only come about as a result of our historic victory in November, as it signaled to the entire world that my administration would seek peace and negotiate agreements to ensure the security of all Americans and our allies,” Trump wrote, without to hesitate to claim a breakthrough after 15 months of devastating war.

In a later speech at the White House, Biden said his diplomatic efforts “never stopped” but acknowledged that his administration had worked with Trump’s team to ensure the U.S. “speaks with one voice.”

Trump sent his future Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to Qatar for the ceasefire negotiations.

Biden, who has faced intense criticism from the Democratic Party’s progressive flank for his unwavering support of Israel, said the deal was “developed and negotiated by my team” and he appeared perplexed that there might be confusion over who was responsible Breakthrough.

Asked by a reporter whether he or Trump deserved credit, Biden replied: “Is this a joke?”

Bluster and bravery

While Trump is known for his penchant for bluster and bravado, his role in breaking the ceasefire impasse is recognized far beyond the ranks of his staunchest allies.

Mike Casey, a former State Department official who resigned over Biden’s support for the war, said there was an argument that Israel planned the deal “as a gift to Trump.”

“There are domestic political considerations for Netanyahu and it is essentially not much different from the deal they could have agreed to in May,” Casey told Al Jazeera.

Casey said the Biden administration “didn’t engage in any real negotiations” with the Israelis because it knew the U.S. would ultimately give in to any of their demands.

In Israel, media coverage went so far as to suggest that Trump’s involvement was the deciding factor in the breakthrough.

The Times of Israel, citing two unnamed Arab officials, reported that including Trump’s envoy Witkoff in a single round of negotiations helped Netanyahu “do more to accept a deal than Biden did all year.”

Although they did not go so far as to give Trump the lion’s share of the credit, Biden officials acknowledged in private conversations with US media that his team played a significant role.

A Biden official told reporters that Witkoff played a “very important role” and that his partnership with Biden negotiator Brett McGurk proved “quite effective,” according to a recording of a confidential briefing accessed by independent journalist Ken Klippenstein X had published

Netanyahu and Witkoff’s offices did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s requests for comment.

“Some goodwill for the Trump team”

Jean-Loup Samaan, a senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute, said it was “highly likely” that the Trump team pressured Netanyahu to accept a deal.

“Trump has made it clear that he does not want the war to last until he returns to the Oval Office, especially since the deal will actually begin under his watch,” Samaan told Al Jazeera.

“At the same time, one could argue that the publication of this pressure is likely to benefit Netanyahu in his political maneuvers with his far-right government partners,” he said.

“This could be a way for (Netanyahu) to send the message that he had no choice but to show goodwill to the Trump team to defuse the anger of ministers like Ben-Gvir and Smotrich,” Samaan said and referred to the Israeli distance. the right-wing cabinet members Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Alam Saleh, a Middle East expert at the Australian National University, said it was plausible that Witkoff played a significant role in the breakthrough and also that his influence was exaggerated.

“If he was able to leverage certain relationships or bring new ideas to the table, it is not impossible that Netanyahu was influenced by his position or the dynamics of the meeting,” Saleh told Al Jazeera.

“It is entirely possible that this story is partly true, but could also be exaggerated in its significance,” Saleh said.

“Politically, the timing could be aimed at creating the conditions for the Trump team to be more effective on Middle East peace issues – something to keep in mind as we move forward.”

For Biden, overshadowing his role in the Gaza ceasefire is reminiscent of the political fate of the late US President Jimmy Carter, who served from 1977 to 1981 and died last month at the age of 100.

In the final days of his administration, Carter, a one-term president like Biden, worked with the new administration of Ronald Reagan to secure the release of 52 Americans held captive at the U.S. Embassy in Iran.

The crisis had dominated Carter’s final year in office and contributed to his low public approval before his landslide election defeat.

After 444 days in the embassy, ​​the Americans were flown out of Iran just moments after Reagan was sworn in as president, handing the new administration a major political victory.