Biden’s Secretary of State Takes Credit for Trump’s Gaza Peace Plan: ‘Essentially the Plan We Developed’

(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken took credit for President Donald Trump’s recently unveiled Gaza peace plan.

Blinken joined Preet Bharara on his Stay Tuned with Preet podcast this week, where he claimed the guts of the peace plan he had been developing during President Joe Biden’s administration made up almost all of Trump’s 20-point plan to bring peace and end the war between Israel and Hamas.

Blinken surprised Bharara by saying Trump’s plan was “cause for some hope” and he backed it being “fully implemented.”

Blinken explained:

This is essentially the plan that we developed over many months and more or less left in a drawer for the incoming administration. And I’m very, very glad they picked it up. I was working with all of the parties, the Israelis, the Arabs, the Palestinians and others on what would be necessary for post-conflict arrangements in Gaza. And the basic idea is contained in this plan.

Similarities mentioned by the former secretary of state include the call for a transitional government in Gaza, an influx of humanitarian aid, and disarming Hamas and other terror groups.

Trump’s 20-point plan also includes a “Trump economic development plan” and the condition that Israel will not occupy Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed support for the plan.

Blinken claimed that just before Trump took office, his peace plan could have been implemented. He further argued that the next administration could not immediately run with his plan because they needed to get “organized.”

He said:

The basics of the plan, exactly what we worked on for many months. We had a basic agreement on this plan back in November, but there were a few gaps that we weren’t able to close. And I’d hoped we’d be able to close them before we left office. We couldn’t quite get there. I thought what would happen is if we finally got to the ceasefire, which we did on our last day in office, the ceasefire had built into it a six week period for an initial ceasefire and during those six weeks, the parties would have to agree on what are the enduring conditions necessary to make this a permanent ceasefire. And that’s where this plan came in.

Listen to the full episode of Stay Tuned with Preet featuring Blinken here.