Biden-Trump teamwork advanced Gaza ceasefire, says outgoing US ambassador to Israel

JERUSALEM, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Significant progress was made on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal once the administrations of Joe Biden and Donald Trump began working hand in hand to make the case for urgency, outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew told Reuters.

Lew's 15 months as President Biden's envoy overlapped with a war that began on Oct. 7, 2023, with a Palestinian Hamas attack on Israel followed by an Israeli assault on Gaza. He spoke on Tuesday before a deal was reached.

Lew, 69, will hand over the ambassador's role to Mike Huckabee, a Baptist minister and former Arkansas governor, when Trump returns to the White House on Monday. He gave Reuters interviews in December and on Tuesday to mark the end of his tenure.

A Washington veteran and a Democrat, Lew said the bipartisan U.S. cooperation began right after the Republican Trump's election as president two months ago. Lew said U.S. national interests were best served by what he called a "warm handoff" and a constructive transition.

"I think a lot of progress has been made. The fact that you have an outgoing and an incoming administration that have worked hand in hand to make the case for urgency, I think, has been noticed by all parties," Lew said.

Lew credited Biden's significant time commitment to the deal as his term neared an end and welcomed the engagement of Trump, who had said there would be "hell to pay" unless Hamas freed the hostages before he takes over from Biden on Jan. 20.

"The fact that he (Biden) and the president-elect use different language in this case may create constructive tension because they have the same goal, and he (Trump) has used language that makes people say, 'What's going to happen next?' If we were working at cross-purposes, it would be perhaps a different situation. But we're not. There's no daylight between what we'r...
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