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Architect Of Obama’s Iran Nuclear Deal Can’t Bring Himself To Give Trump Credit For Israel-Hamas Deal

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Former Obama administration official Ben Rhodes brushed off the deal President Donald Trump brokered between Israel and the radical Islamic terrorist group Hamas as “just a cease-fire” Monday during a MSNBC appearance.

Hamas released the 20 surviving hostages taken during the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on multiple locations in southern Israel that killed over 1,200 people on Monday. Rhodes, the architect of then-President Barack Obama’s deal with Iran over its nuclear weapons program, was asked by MSNBC host Ana Cabrera if he thought Trump could see it through.

“I give Trump credit for essentially finally applying some leverage on the Israeli government, on Bibi Netanyahu in particular, in a way that, you know, frankly, we didn’t even see President Biden do when he was in office,” Rhodes claimed. “And I think simultaneously, Qatar and Turkey were applying a lot of leverage on Hamas. And then that got us into the ceasefire. That’s terrific. It’s great that the Israeli hostages are reunited with their families, that aid is getting to Gaza. I would not go as far as to say that this kind of validates a certain, you know, theory of diplomacy, because frankly, it’s just a ceasefire. The problem has not been solved.”

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“It’s not really a peace deal in the sense that we still don’t know who’s going to govern Gaza. We still don’t know if Hamas is going to disarm,” Rhodes continued. “We’re at phase one, quite literally, of what would be a very long road to some kind of lasting peace. So, look, I think a transactional — and, you know, it’s interesting to reflect on that quote you put up, I mean, a transactional style of diplomacy, it can get you that kind of short-term win, right? You know, you take care of a piece of business, but it’s not necessarily designed for the kind of patient follow-through and painstaking work that is necessary to address something as deep as the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians.”

Trump terminated the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran in May 2018, calling it “a horrible deal that should never, ever have been made.” The 2015 agreement faced backlash from critics of the deal claiming it “paved the road” for Iran to acquire nuclear weapons.

The Biden administration sought to reinstate the deal as part of a more conciliatory approach toward Iran, which included freeing up $6 billion in money from oil sales that were being held by South Korea in exchange for the release of five Americans being held in Iran. Biden also eased sanctions on Iran, allowing the country to export more oil and also allowed Iraq to purchase electricity from Iran.

The United States in June struck facilities in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan related to Iran’s effort to develop nuclear weapons early on the morning of June 22 local time, using as many as 14 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators in the operation, which involved a 37-hour flight by seven B-2A Spirit bombers.