Trump pushed Netanyahu for Gaza truce, Biden let him set terms — experts

Washington, DC — With the Israeli government finally greenlighting the ceasefire and prisoner swap deal, the stage is set for Tel Aviv to halt its war that has so far annihilated much of heavily urbanised Gaza and uprooted most of the tiny enclave's pre-war population of 2.4 million.

Yet, in the shadow of this deal, it is undeniable that the outgoing US President Joe Biden's inaction stands in stark contrast to the aggressive push by President-elect Donald Trump, whose influence, many experts say, was key to forcing the hands of Israeli leaders when diplomacy faltered.

"Biden's legacy will be genocide," Kathy Kelly, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee and co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, tells TRT World. "His actions — or lack thereof — have enabled this carnage."

Trump, to his credit, pushed for the ceasefire with an urgency that Biden seemed to lack.

"Frankly, it better be done before I take the oath of office," Trump declared, forcing Netanyahu into action.

This delicate ceasefire — brokered after intense negotiation — is far from the comprehensive peace that the people of Gaza desperately need.

While it may offer a temporary reprieve, the damage done to Gaza's population and its infrastructure is apocalyptic.

Fragile moment of relief

Even as the immediate ceasefire represents a fragile moment of relief, experts caution against any premature optimism. They say Israel has not shifted its long-term strategy and Gaza's suffering could likely continue.

"The United States (under Biden administration) provided Israel with bombs, missiles, and surveillance assistance that have been used to level entire communities in Gaza. Biden's actions made the killing spree possible," says Kelly.

Now, with the ink on the ceasefire agreement still fresh, the geopolitical implications are already taking shape.

Jennifer Loewenstein, noted Jewish peace activist and former associate director of Middle Eastern studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, sharply criticises Biden's failure to act.

"Unlike President Biden, President-elect Donald Trump put real pressure on Netanyahu to accept the ceasefire deal. Trump made it clear he wanted no wars raging in the background on the day of his inauguration, so he gave the Israeli prime minister no option but to accept it," Loewenstein tells TRT World.

"What this shows more than anything else is the level of Biden's complicity in Israel's genocide against Palestinians."

The ceasefire agreement, as Loewenstein points out, is eerily similar to one Biden proposed earlier in the year, but Netanyahu's insistence on additional conditions ensured its failure.

"This has been the pattern all along within the Biden administration: claim to push for a ceasefire agreement, announce that negotiators are 'working 'round the clock' to arrive at a deal, inform the public that a deal has been made, and as soon as Netanyahu rejects it, blame Hamas for its failure."

This repeated failure, according to Loewenstein, "not only demonstrates the depth of US complicity in Israel's genocidal war, it also reveals a moral bankruptcy. Biden repeatedly refused to put any real pressure on Netanyahu, instead rewarding him over and over with billion-dollar weapons' deals."

World holds its breath

This inaction stands in stark contrast to Trump's more hands-on approach, whose insistence on a ceasefire "wasn't just political rhetoric; it was a direct challenge to the power structures keeping the war machine running," Loewenstein says.

His move to secure peace before his inauguration, she adds, is a reflection of the difference between the two men. Where Biden allowed Netanyahu to dictate terms, Trump, for all his shortcomings, forced a resolution.

Loewenstein says, "Everything else during Biden's entire career will pale in comparison, and more so with time once the scale and scope of the Gaza genocide and of Washington's complicity become clear."

Looking ahead, analysts warn that any ceasefire may likely be short-lived since the underlying dynamics of Israel's war remain unchanged.

Netanyahu's government, they argue, has no incentive to seek a lasting peace with Gaza.

"The intention is to shrink the Gaza Strip even further, forcing the inhabitants of North Gaza southward to Deir Al Balah and beyond," says Loewenstein.

"Settlers have set their hopes on recolonising the north and, eventually, all of what was the Gaza Strip."

As the world holds its breath for a peace that seems out of reach, one thing is clear: the true cost of Biden’s legacy will be his moral and political failure in Gaza.

"The first genocide of the 21st century will forever define Biden's legacy," says Kelly. "He could have stopped this, but he didn't."