It took more than 15 months to get a ceasefire deal in Gaza that might last. But it took no time at all for a political battle to erupt in Washington over who deserves the credit for it. “The EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November,” President-elect Trump insisted on social media shortly after noon Wednesday. “We have achieved so much without even being in the White House.” President Biden, first in a written statement and soon afterward in brief remarks at the White House, said the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas was based around a framework he proposed last May. The most striking moment of Biden’s appearance came at its conclusion. A reporter asked whether the “history books” would credit the current president or Trump for the deal. “Is that a joke?” Biden snapped back. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, pressed on the topic later in the afternoon at her final media briefing, told reporters, “Everybody’s going to want some credit. … What I can say is the president got it done.” The back-and-forth is inevitable given the striking timing of an agreement that — finally — holds out some hope of an end to a period of catastrophic bloodshed. The first phase of the ceasefire could come into force almost immediately, with an initial hostage release possibly scheduled for Sunday — the day before Biden leads office and Trump takes power for a second time. The historical echo from an earlier Middle East crisis is unmistakable. A generation ago, another one-term Democratic president, Jimmy Carter, tried and failed to free American hostages in Tehran during his final year in office. Carter was defeated by former President Reagan in November 1980. Iran released the hostages on the day of Reagan’s inauguration, Jan. 20, 1981. The current situation is not quite so clear-cut as the 1981 Iranian move, which was a clear boost for Reagan and a final humiliation for Carter. Biden is factually correct that the deal announced Wednesday hewed relatively closely to the framework he put forth in May. But the question then becomes — why now? It seems a stretch to imagine it was pure coincidence a deal that had proven elusive for eight months has snapped into place right as Biden is about to hand over the reins of power to Trump. Some insiders have argued Trump’s threat that there would be “hell to pay” if the hostages were not released may have helped tug Hamas negotiators over the line. But Israeli media outlets have also reported Trump’s new Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, ratcheted up the pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a deal in a face-to-face meeting last weekend. Chaim Levinson, a columnist with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, outlined the pressure in the wake of that meeting with a story headlined, “Trump’s Mideast envoy forced Netanyahu to accept a Gaza plan he repeatedly rejected.” Back in Washington, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) paid tribute to Witkoff during his Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing to become Trump’s secretary of State. Rubio told his Senate colleagues that Witkoff had been “a critical component” in reaching the deal, adding, “He’s been involved in it from Day 1.” In summary, there are three phases to a deal, which will begin with the release by Hamas of around 33 especially vulnerable hostages, a pause in hostilities and an infusion of humanitarian aid into a devastated Gaza. So long as Phase 1 endures for at least 16 days of its full six-week scope, negotiations will begin on Phase 2, which would encompass the release of all hostages, the declaration of a “sustainable calm” and an Israeli withdrawal. A final phase would include the beginning of a substantial rebuilding of Gaza, and the macabre business of exchanging bodies held by the opposing sides. There is, of course, plenty that could yet go wrong. Netanyahu could yet run into difficulties with the most hard-line members of his coalition government, notably National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Israeli President Isaac Herzog — whose office is largely ceremonial — encouraged support for the deal on Wednesday. It's also possible either side could backslide on its commitments or negotiations as to exactly how to move from Phase 1 to Phase 2 could fall apart. Biden, in his White House appearance, offered some acknowledgment for the Trump team’s efforts. He said that while “the deal was developed and negotiated under my administration … its terms will be implemented, for the most part, by the next administration.” Biden added that, in the past few days, “We’ve been speaking as one team.” Biden will turn to his legacy in broader terms in an address Wednesday evening. But he will plainly hope the ceasefire deal can help bind up the wounds that opened between him and younger, progressive voters over Gaza. Biden’s self-proclaimed “ironclad” commitment to Israel encompassed almost $18 billion in military aid during the first 12 months of the conflict, according to a study from Brown University. Earlier this month, the administration informed Congress of an additional $8 billion proposed arms deal with the Israelis. The Israeli military campaign following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attacks has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry, and displaced around 90 percent of Gaza’s population. Around 1,200 Israelis were killed on Oct. 7. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as alleged war criminals. Biden’s Israel policy is also widely perceived as having weighed down Vice President Harris in her election campaign — especially in the key swing state of Michigan, which has the highest concentration of Arab Americans in the nation. Harris lost Michigan to Trump, even suffering a defeat in Dearborn, a former Democratic stronghold and the first Arab-majority city in the United States. If a ceasefire holds in Gaza, all sides with be relieved. But the verdict of history as to who deserves the political credit could be a long time coming. The Memo is a reported column by Niall Stanage.