Biden liaison appointed to lead Democratic outreach for Gaza peace board

Shelley Greenspan has been appointed to a senior position at the Board of Peace, where she will direct congressional outreach, specifically targeting Democratic lawmakers.

The appointment, effective next week, is part of a strategy by the Trump administration to secure bipartisan backing for the 20-point Gaza peace plan.

Greenspan will report to senior advisers Josh Gruenbaum and Aryeh Lightstone.

The White House aims to prevent the Gaza initiative from stalling after the next presidential election.

Administration officials want to ensure that a future Democratic president, potentially elected in 2028, will continue implementing the plan and supporting the board's operations.

This approach mirrors lessons drawn from the Abraham Accords, which were announced in 2020 during Trump's first term.

Those agreements normalized relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan.

After Joe Biden took office in January 2021, his administration paused efforts to advance new normalization deals.

Critics at the time noted that the Biden team was reluctant to use the term "Abraham Accords" to avoid giving Trump credit for the framework.

It was not until June 2023 that Antony Blinken, then Secretary of State, appointed Dan Shapiro as a special envoy to expand those accords.

Greenspan brings a history of cross-aisle work to the new role.

She served as Biden's liaison to the Jewish community starting in 2022, a position she held after working at the State Department and the National Security Council on global partnerships issues. She also worked for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, AIPAC, and as a manager and policy specialist at Amazon. Her grandparents were Holocaust survivors. The Board of Peace cited her ability to earn trust from both parties in a statement released to The Jerusalem Post. "Sustained, bipartisan support from Congress is essential to the work ahead, and Shelley is uniquely capable of leading this effort," the statement said. Clinton, former secretary of state and Democratic presidential nominee, supported the Gaza framework earlier this year. In a Financial Times article, she wrote: "The 20-point plan is not the one many of us would have drafted, but it remains the only framework backed by sufficient leverage, political engagement and potential resources to move the parties towards implementation." Greenspan said she was honored to join the board. "At the State Department, I worked to advance the President's vision for peace and prosperity in the Middle East and saw how the President's 20-Point Plan can tangibly deliver for the peoples of Gaza and Israel," she said in a statement to The Jerusalem Post. "I look forward to continuing that work with the Board."