白宫副国家安全顾问乔恩·范恩(Jon Finer)承认,当选总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)的团队给予了“重大支持”,以确保双方达成停火和人质交换协议以色列哈马斯周日在美国广播公司新闻节目“本周”的采访中说
该协议的大部分实施预计将在特朗普周一就职后进行,范恩表示,乔·拜登总统的政府意识到了这一点。
“他们完全跟上了速度,我们已经尽可能透明和支持,因为我们移交了这一点,”他说。
但是,尽管范恩赞扬了特朗普团队的合作,但他告诉《本周》的联合主播乔纳森·卡尔,是他的老板的“坚持”促成了这笔交易。
他说:“但最终,在他们的支持下,我们的团队在拜登总统指导的谈判中处于主导地位。”
这次采访是在第一批三名以色列人质从加沙获释前几分钟进行的,这是执行停火协议的第一步,该协议还包括释放巴勒斯坦囚犯。
范恩说:“全世界、新闻界,甚至世界上其他政府的注意力已经转移到其他问题上,但拜登总统几乎每天都会打电话给[国家安全顾问]杰克·沙利文或我或我们团队的其他人,询问交易的最新情况,他可以做些什么来帮助推动事情的发展,他可以向该地区派遣谁,他可以打电话给谁。”“你知道,他打了几十个电话给参与谈判这笔交易的国家元首,以最终达成协议。”
“这从未逃过他的关注,正是他的坚持最终导致了我们今天的这一天,以及这为该地区创造更美好未来的机会,”范恩补充道。
“以色列政府做出了一个非常困难的决定,但我认为已经达成了我们在很长一段时间内达成的相同结论,即最终结束这场战争、将人质带回家、确保加沙获得人道主义救援的唯一方式是按照谈判达成的原则进行某种交换,”范恩告诉《本周》联合主持人乔纳森·卡尔。
乔纳森·德克-陈是以色列裔美国人质萨吉·德克-陈的父亲,他有望成为33名被释放的人质之一。他告诉卡尔,在停火的第一阶段,他听到前三名人质被释放的消息感到“激动”,并表示希望包括他儿子在内的其余人质能够安全回家。
他说,Dekel-Chen收到儿子“生命的积极迹象”已经一年多了。
Dekel-Chen说,10月7日,他儿子的妻子怀着他们的第三个孩子,已经怀孕7个月了。
“她只知道她爸爸是墙上的海报,而不是他本人,”他说。
Dekel-Chen计划在周一参加特朗普的就职典礼,并对当选总统在该协议上的工作表示“极大的感谢”。
“拜登团队绝对做了非凡的工作,让这项协议的上层建筑在一起,”他说。“然而,当选总统特朗普在推特上发表的后续声明让人们明白了这一点。”
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 betweenIsraeland 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.
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.
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."