Adam Boehler statement controversy offers insight into Trump administration's inner workings. The controversy surrounding Adam Boehler's bizarre statements provides a good opportunity to examine the inner workings of the Trump administration, and not just in the Israeli context.
The 47th president returned with a very deep lesson from his tenure as the 45th president. Complete trust. These are the magic words. That is, there are many officials who hold very senior positions in the administration. However, there is only a small circle of actual trusted individuals. They and only they are involved in decision-making.
All the others, no matter how impressive their title or position, are in the second circle. Sometimes even less than that. The implication is that not everyone who appears on screens as a Trump administration representative actually fully represents the president. Complex and unusual, but that's just the way it is.
Steve Witkoff, Trump's friend of decades and who holds the title of "United States special envoy to the Middle East," is definitely included in the inner circle. Adam Boehler, who is defined as the "United States envoy for hostages," is not included in it.
And so Witkoff is the one entrusted with the most important missions. He crafted phase one of the hostage deal that is indeed within his mandate, but he was also sent to finalize a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia, which are not exactly located in the Middle East.
Witkoff is also the one who went to Moscow on Trump's behalf to bring home American prisoner Marc Fogel. Boehler, whose ostensible role this is, did not join that dramatic trip to the Kremlin. Boehler also did not participate in the meeting between Netanyahu and Trump at the White House a month ago and was not involved in crafting the first deal. On the other hand, he did receive approval – apparently as a result of his own initiative – to meet with senior Hamas officials in Qatar.
Since Boehler holds an official position, it cannot be said that he did not represent the US in his meetings with senior Hamas officials. However, those familiar with the internal dynamics know that he was not speaking on behalf of Trump. And what he certainly did not do – Boehler did not represent Israel, although he created such an impression with Hamas officials and the general public. No one authorized him to talk about "a long-term ceasefire of five or ten years," while the consistent Israeli position is the destruction of Hamas.
Boehler's bigger mistake was publicizing the problematic conversations with Hamas. As long as he conducted them covertly, he indeed caused damage but at least spared the embarrassment. His choice yesterday to move between countless American and Israeli media outlets, and to release strange statements in those interviews, some sympathetic toward Hamas and hostile to Israel, both elevated Hamas and angered quite a few people in the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem and the White House in Washington.
In fact, even on liberal CNN, Jewish anchor Jake Tapper asked Jewish envoy Boehler how he could sit with people who would like to murder him. Not sure there's a good answer to that question.
