I sat down with Samantha Sutton – a seasoned Middle East insider who’s spent over a decade shaping US-Israel policy and leading delicate regional negotiations. She’s one of those people you don’t often see quoted in headlines, but whose fingerprints are all over the real progress behind the scenes.
From her years in the White House to her time on the ground in Doha as part of the team negotiating the January 2025 ceasefire and hostage deal, Samantha offered a rare, firsthand look at what it takes to move diplomacy forward when everything feels stuck.
In our conversation, we dug into:
Why the Palestinian Authority remains central to any path forward – and why the Israeli government must embrace Palestinian-led governance
The risk of a power vacuum in Gaza: How to ensure an outcome free of both Hamas and indefinite Israeli occupation
The surprising continuities and contrasts between the Biden team’s post-war planning and what the Trump Administration is now advancing for Gaza
It was a conversation for the policy wonks among us. Tune in to hear Samantha’s insights and what she has to tell us about the fragile but critical phases ahead.
