Steve Witkoff Understands Diplomacy Usually Requires Patience, Engagement

As someone who has walked the tightrope of Middle East negotiations, I understand the challenges faced by those working to broker peace and stability in a volatile region. That is why I feel compelled to defend my fellow diplomat, Steve Witkoff, against some shortsighted criticism recently leveled against him.

From where I stand, it looks like he is doing an excellent job thus far. That doesn’t mean I agree with every word he says and every step he takes. But I think he is being thorough, taking calculated risks, learning the landscape, and earning the trust of the players in the region.

I know what it’s like to be attacked from all sides. When Jared Kushner, David Friedman and I were working to reshape Middle East diplomacy during the first Trump administration, we were, initially, mocked by the press. What did three Orthodox Jews know about making peace with Arab nations? Yet, we persevered, and under President Trump’s leadership and direction, together with Prime Minister Netanyahu and courageous, visionary leaders in the Gulf, President Trump’s team helped achieve the groundbreaking Abraham Accords.

I remember being misunderstood—badly. Two weeks into my tenure as envoy to the Middle East, a group of Israeli women from Judea and Samaria wanted to protest me for being “anti-settlements.” I don’t know why they thought I was against them, but they planned to make a ruckus in front of my house, family and community. I wonder how they feel now, after I emerged as one of their main vocal proponents and one of the strongest opponents of referring to the ahistorical “West Bank” or outrageously false “occupied Palestinian territories.” I don’t even like referring to “settlements,” a word used as a weapon against Jewish communities in areas where Jews have lived for millennia. It all goes to show how your persona can travel around the world before the real you gets a chance to prove yourself.

Some of those early critics who doubted our…