Steve Witkev was not a professional diplomat and had no experience in international negotiations. Nevertheless, the Jewish real estate pole in New York, an intimate friend of US President Donald Trump, has succeeded, as many have failed to make an outbreak of the hostage deal. Behind the closed doors in the negotiations in Doha, Cairo and Jerusalem, the man who built his wealth to buy the old buildings in Harlem and Burkelin became a major figure in the most complex diplomatic arena in the Middle East.
So how did the 67 -year -old businessman, who until recently, was focusing on selling Pentian in Miami and New York, the moving power behind one of the most complicated crises in the history of the Middle East?
“He understands the picture and came to win.”
Israel has been charmed in recent weeks, by launching hostages from the enthusiasm of families. Witkoff, the Trump Administration’s Special Envoy for the Middle East, was also excited. In shots distributed on the Internet, the female monitoring soldiers that were released singing “AM Yisrael Chai” were seen at a meeting with him. Lerry Albaj told him: “We want to say thank you, and to the Termab, for everyone.” “The United States is with you, the president is with you. We have a common goal – to give everyone home.”
Even before Trump officially resided as an American president, Witkev was already present in the negotiations in Doha, Cairo and Jerusalem. According to media reports, it was the one who pressed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu until he agreed to the hostage deal.
The sources that met Wittouf during his recent visit to Israel “Globe” told that they admired that he was “a deep person who understands the full picture, knows how to” cut the corners “and came here to get out of his sleeves and win. Gaza.
According to “The Wall Street Journal”, he told Witkoff Netanyahu at the decisive and final meeting before the Prime Minister declared the Israeli negotiating team to go foot a foot does not want the Prime Minister to do so, then all the participants in the talks must pack and return home. “The president is a great friend of Israel, and now it’s time to be a friend,” it quoted the president to Netanyahu.
Unless he succeeded in working for several months, she suddenly worked. The parties took place and within a few days the deal began to implement it.
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So who is this Steve Whitkov, who suddenly entered our lives in an important way? The man who travels throughout the Middle East meets with the heads of ministers and presidents, threatens Hamas, the hand of the country, a shrewd businessman, but most importantly, he is a close personal friend of Trump.
Wittakov, 67, is married, son of a women’s coat manufacturing company that originated in Bronx, New York, and has three children. Dramaticly, his younger son, Andrew, died in 2011 with an overdose of opiates, when he was only 22 years old. He studied and qualified as a lawyer but moved to real estate in the eighties, when he started his career in the field of business by buying old residential buildings in Harlem and Bronx.
In 1997, he founded the Witkoff group, where his wife and sons also work. “Fortune” magazine recently estimated the company’s value at $ 500 million, while it flourishes projects in South Florida and close relations for investment funds such as BlackStone and Apollo. The company’s commercial operations are already managed by his son Alex and the grandson of Zach.
Wittouf rose to the top of the real estate world in New York and Florida, along the way, he got a decisive and unprecedented place in the Trump inner circle. Today, Trump’s friend is considered and most loyal, and a person accompanied him on his way to power.
The appointment of a real estate businessman, not an experienced diplomat, explains to how much President Trump views the Middle East crisis as a similar negotiation on a complex real estate deal. “The Wall Street Journal” stated that people close to Witkoff say he is also sharing this opinion, and sees it “one huge real estate deal.” According to the informed, the choice of a person close to Trump ensures a certain continuity in his predecessor approach as an envoy in the Middle East, Trump’s son -in -law Jared Kushner.
Even Trump’s ambitious plans for Gaza are a real estate project. The president wants to take and transform the tape ownership, as he puts it, the Rivieh in the Middle East. “We will remove destroyed buildings, and we will create economic development that will provide an unlimited number of jobs and housing for the residents of the region,” Trump said.
American expert told Professor Eitan Gilboa from the Center of Bar Elan University for General Diplomacy “Globe” that Trump believes in the approach of transactions in diplomacy and international relations, and therefore his choice of a real estate businessman is not surprising.
“It is sure that there are many communication points between work negotiations and diplomatic negotiations, which is why it calls” deals “. Professor Gilboa says, despite the addition of work negotiations, though, the business negotiations do not complicate history And political positions and cultural sensitivities here as a president, and as an envoy, you reach a topic free from everyone.
Professor Gilboa says that the friendship between the two is expected to help Witkouf. “First of all, it is a matter of confidence. Trump needs a 200 % loyal person in such a sensitive situation, and Witkoff meets this condition. In addition, unlike other diplomats, he does not have to participate in the complications of diplomatic bureaucracy.
At the same time, Professor Gilboa believes that the current deal was due to Trump’s threat: “He asked the parties to reach a deal by January 20, and Witfouf simply used this leverage to achieve the desired results.”
Trump bought a sandwich in the eighties and became a true friend
Like Trump, Witkeov is the typical New Yorker who achieved his wealth in the city, put his children in the field of real estate, and moved at a certain age to Florida. Like Trump, he is a thirsty golf player. In modern articles on him in the American media, his colleagues in the industry describe as a smart, elegant and talented man who has an unclear position.
The two spend a lot of time together, from family wedding parties to joint golf games – including the round that played last September, where a possible killer was arrested near Trump’s private golf club in Florida. In an interview with AP after the assassination attempt, he said: “I was honored to see a man who was full of self -control, brave, cared about his friends more interested in himself. He was an inspiration for everyone around him.
The two met in 1986 when Witkoff was a lawyer and behaves with Trump at the law firm where he was working. It tells that their friendship began on a sandwich. Trump met delicious after working on a deal together. Trump was of money, so Witkoff bought him a sandwich and Swiss cheese.
Over the years, friendship is only deepened. Trump’s loyalty was praised after his son died due to an overdose in 2011, and he said in his speech at the Republican National Congress for this year that “Trump’s presence brought real comfort in a dark hour.” Trump described it as “the most amazing and most sympathetic person I have ever met.”
Witkoff, for his part, was recruited to help Trump in the fraud trial in Manhattan. He was the first to testify in his defense, while many of his supporters operated their appearance on him. Witkoff was also one of the largest fundraising in Trump, bringing the campaign of tens of millions of dollars in financing. According to “The Wall Street Journal, Witkoff remained with Trump in Mar-A-Lago in the week before the election day.
“Witkoff realizes what he does not know”
Witkoff is an enthusiastic supporter of Israel. Very excited that he came to Congress to see Netanyahu’s speech a few months ago. Over the years, he was considered a fan of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
His relationship with the Middle East is also associated with business. For example, last year, he sold Park Lane Hotel in Manhattan to the Qatar Investment Fund for $ 623 million. The Abu Dhabi Investment Fund also participated.
However, the largest part of the real estate activity of the Witkoff group is of course in the United States. Among the main projects of the beach club in Miami, where the Benthaus apartment was sold this year for $ 120 million. “The Wall Street Journal” stated that Witkoff bought the property and then changed the plans after the previous developer bankruptcy. It also implemented a similar strategy in the distinguished Line One project in New York.
In a profile article a few weeks ago at “The Wall Street Journal”, many businessmen were transferred near Witkoff. “He understands the Rubik cube and the people who are moving him,” said a real estate lawyer who knows Witakouf, who describes as a person.
His negotiating style, his real estate colleagues says, “It was not a confrontation.” They say: “It is not the type of person who wants to see blood on the ground before closing the deal.”
It was published by Globes, Israel Business News – En.globes.co.il – on February 7, 2025.
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