On Monday’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” NPR Diplomatic Correspondent Michele Kelemen stated that it “seems like the Biden administration is trying to kind of leverage” President-Elect Donald Trump’s vow to end the wars in the Middle East “to get a ceasefire done now” in Lebanon, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might want to “wait until January to give Trump credit for a deal.”
Co-host Ari Shapiro asked, [relevant exchange begins around 2:45] “The Biden administration, of course, is only in office until January 20. Does that lame duck quality make a difference in these talks?”
Kelemen responded, “President-Elect Trump has said that he will end the wars in the Middle East. It seems like the Biden administration is trying to kind of leverage that idea to get a ceasefire done now. It’s not clear, though, that the Israeli Prime Minister will want to do this now or wait until January to give Trump credit for a deal. We’ll have to see what his Cabinet decides tomorrow.”
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