Trump's Gaza Peace Board Appoints Former Biden Aide for Congressional Outreach

The Trump administration has moved to secure bipartisan backing for its Gaza peace initiative by hiring a senior figure from the previous administration. Shelley Greenspan, who served as President Joe Biden’s liaison to the Jewish community, has been appointed to a senior position at the Board of Peace. She will focus on congressional outreach, specifically targeting Democratic lawmakers, beginning next week.

The appointment is part of a wider strategy to ensure the 20-point Gaza peace plan and the Board of Peace survive beyond the current Republican presidency. The administration aims to build support among both parties so that a future Democratic president, if elected in 2028, will continue to implement the plan and support the board’s work rather than allowing the initiatives to lapse.

Greenspan will report to Josh Gruenbaum and Aryeh Lightstone, both senior advisers to the Board of Peace. Her background includes service at the State Department and the National Security Council, where she focused on global partnerships. She also worked at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and held management roles at technology companies, including Amazon. In 2022, she was appointed as Biden’s liaison to the Jewish community.

In a statement, Greenspan described the role as an opportunity to continue work she began at the State Department. She stated that she saw how the President’s 20-Point Plan could deliver tangible results for the peoples of Gaza and Israel. “I look forward to continuing that work with the Board,” she said. The Board of Peace noted that she has earned trust across the aisle through her service in both Democratic and Republican administrations.

The push for bipartisan support follows the trajectory of the Abraham Accords. In 2020, the first Trump administration announced agreements to normalize relations between Israel and several Arab nations, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. The goal was to secure further agreements, including with Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. However, the Biden administration generally refrained from advancing new normalization agreements after taking office in January 2021.

Some critics argued that the second administration was reluctant to use the term “Abraham Accords” to avoid giving credit to the previous president. It was not until June 2023 that Secretary of State Antony Blinken appointed Dan Shapiro, a former US ambassador to Israel, as a senior adviser for regional integration and special envoy for expanding the Abraham Accords.

Recent months have seen several prominent Democrats voice support for the current Gaza plan. Former US ambassador to Israel Jack Lew, former senior Biden administration adviser Brett McGurk, and Hillary Clinton have all expressed backing. Clinton, the former secretary of state, wrote in the Financial Times that the 20-point plan is the only framework with sufficient leverage and resources to move parties toward implementation, even if it is not the version many would have drafted.

The Board of Peace emphasized the necessity of sustained congressional support for the work ahead. The organization stated that Greenspan is uniquely capable of leading the outreach effort due to her deep experience working across political lines.