White House official credits Biden's 'persistence' for Mideast ceasefire deal
White House deputy national security adviser Jon Finer acknowledged "significant support" from President-elect Donald Trump's team to secure the ceasefire and hostage exchange deal between Israel and Hamas in an interview Sunday on ABC News' "This Week."
The bulk of implementing the deal is expected after Trump takes office on Monday, which Finer said President Joe Biden's administration was conscious of.
"They're fully up to speed, and we have been as transparent and supportive as we can as we hand this off," he said.
MORE: Middle East live updates: Israel receives 3 hostages freed from Gaza
But while Finer praised the Trump team's cooperation, he told "This Week" co-anchor Jonathan Karl that it was his boss' "persistence" that saw the deal through.
"But ultimately, at the end of the day, it was our team that was in the driver's seat for the negotiations directed by President Biden with their support," he said.
The interview came minutes before the first three Israeli hostages were released from captivity in Gaza, the first step in the implementation of a ceasefire deal that also involves the freeing of Palestinian prisoners.
"The attention of the world, of the press, of maybe even other governments around the world had moved on to other issues, but President Biden literally just about every day would call [national security adviser] Jake Sullivan or me or others on our team and ask for an update on the deal, what he could do to help push things forward, who he could deploy to the region, who he could call on the phone," Finer said. "And he made, you know, dozens of calls to heads of state involved in negotiating this deal, to ultimately get it done."
"It never escaped his attention and it really was his persistence that ultimately led to the day that we're going to have today and the opportunity for a better future in the region that this unlocks," Finer added.
"The Israeli government made a very difficult decision but I think had reached the same conclusion that we have reached over a long period of time, which is that ultimately, the only way to end this war, bring the hostages home, secure humanitarian relief for Gaza was some sort of exchange along the lines that was negotiated," Finer told "This Week" co-anchor Jonathan Karl.
MORE: Details of what's in the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas
Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of Israeli-American hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen -- who is expected to be one of the 33 hostages released -- told Karl he was "thrilled" to hear of the first three hostages being released in the first phase of the ceasefire, and expressed his hope that the remaining hostages, including his son, return home safely.
It's been over a year since Dekel-Chen received a "positive sign of life" of his son, he said.
His son's wife was seven months pregnant with their third child on Oct. 7, Dekel-Chen said.
"She only knows her dad as a poster on the wall, and not the man himself," he said.
Dekel-Chen plans to attend Trump's inauguration on Monday and expressed "immense gratitude" to the president-elect for his work on the deal.
"The Biden team absolutely did extraordinary work in getting the superstructure of this deal together," he said. "However, it took a tweet, the subsequent statements from President-elect Trump, to get this home."
White House official credits Biden's 'persistence' for Mideast ceasefire deal originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
