Sixteen months after the October 7 massacre, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu summed up his official visit to the winners of Washington.
Israeli leader (Israel leaders are actively strengthening Hamas’ rule in Gaza and taking far-reaching responsibility for the events that led to the worst disaster since the Holocaust, he is the royal treatment, the first Foreign leaders in the second semester of President Trump’s visit to the White House. Although the direct impact of this visit on key issues (hostages and ceasefire agreements, Iran’s nuclear threat and military aid to Israel) is unclear, it has been clear One result. Mr. Trump gave Mr. Netanyahu a valuable gift: extending the lifeline to his administration.
During the day of this visit, Israel fantasizes, with the right-hearted fear, and the US President will prompt Mr. Netanyahu to commit to the second phase of the ceasefire, which will demand the declaration of the war to end. Others speculate that Mr. Trump may even push the Prime Minister’s consent to the prospect of the Palestinian state to further achieve the long-term goal of a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia.
Instead, Mr. Trump has developed a plan that even Mr. Netanyahu dared not suggest: Palestinians’ massacre from Canada, followed by the United States taking over and rebuilding the territory into “the Riviera of the Middle East” . Transparency later, aides tried to soften some proposals, but Mr. Trump has since doubled the entire plan.
By proposing an idea that closely matches Israel’s goal to the far right, the President proposed a solution for Mr. Netanyahu to solve two political problems. First, the proposal was warmly welcomed by two extreme right politicians who have been threatening to collapse Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition government: Finance Minister Bezales Smotrich insists Itama Ben-Gvir, who believes that if Israel resigns in Gaza at the end of the Gaza war, disagrees with the resignation of the state security minister last month protesting the ceasefire agreement, is now working to rejoin the government’s foundation.
In a press conference after the Washington meeting, Mr. Trump also said he would decide whether he would support Israel’s annexation of the West Bank in four weeks – another gift guest hanging in front of him.
Mr. Netanyahu is also under pressure to approve the budget by the end of March. Failure to reach this deadline will prompt a new election, and according to recent polls, he is unlikely to win. Mr. Trump’s proposal also provided a boost to Mr. Netanyahu. It was immediately popular among Israelis, with 72% support in the votes conducted after the shock announcement. This is not surprising. The charm of a U.S.-backed program will allow Hamas to evacuate from the Gaza region, neatly removing Israeli security concerns against the Palestinian territory, which is a big deal for the traumatized crowds exhausted by the war. , and has been moved to the right.
Mr Trump’s unrest for Gaza’s vision for the future has masked more pressing issues of hostages and a ceasefire deal, which is now halfway through its first phase. The second phase should see the Israeli military evacuation from Gaza and exchanged the remaining hostages, almost certainly a large number of Palestinian prisoners, including many senior militants. Entering this stage will effectively end the war – the largest right withdraws from Mr. Netanyahu’s government.
Mr. Netanyahu reportedly pushed for the extension of Phase 1. The purchase time could cause more hostages and alleviate some suffering on the Palestinian side, which is an important achievement. But without the end of the real war, Hamas will never release all hostages, including the Americans, and the battle and suffering will continue.
Mr. Trump has bought Mr. Netanyahu’s time. The Prime Minister can now endanger this by telling them that Mr. Trump’s plan can not only help Israel solve the Hamas problem but also the Palestinian problem, thus jeopardizing it completely, and Having endangered the issue and thus endangered the Prime Minister may now be able to avoid the pressure of his far-right alliance partner to resume the war. With major and major operations, opportunities for generations may be destroyed.
The counterintuitive plan could also provide a lifeline for Hamas and strengthen control over Gaza. The fantasy of permanent population transfer (whether it is not feasible) of Gaza, not only eliminates pressure on Israel to fight a viable vision for the territory, but also increases stake in whether Gaza itself remains a Palestinian. This will rebuild Hamas’ time and space, strengthen its image as a defender of the Palestinians, and reestablish factual control over the territory. In this case, another war is almost certain that makes the 16-month bloodshed just another round of battle.
Turning Gaza into a “Middle Eastern Riviera” is not a serious plan. This is politically unfeasible, with dozens of countries and some rejections from Arab countries. Who will pay? Who will execute it? Which countries will bring Palestinians in? Most importantly, do Palestinians want to leave?
But this is the anti-title of unity and pragmaticity that while weakening Hamas, it attracts a unified, pragmatic opposition to Trump’s goals, and provides dignity to the Palestinians, and provides lasting security to Israel. Mr. Trump’s foreign policy is intended to be dynamic and destructive and will surely divert further in the coming weeks. Those who oppose the president’s vision for Gaza should take this opportunity to win him another person who can help achieve his goal: take the hostages and end the war. An emergency Arab summit, expected to be held in Egypt on February 27, is an opportunity to make such recommendations.
As far as Israel is concerned, even if they are from the US president, they should be wary of falling into unrealistic fantasies. Israel’s history is full of catastrophic consequences of doing so, from the failure of Lebanese regime change in the 1980s to the present. 7 It is believed that Hamas was blocked by military operations. Mr. Netanyahu is a skilled politician whose government may be at its strongest position since the Hamas attacks months from crisis to crisis.
But Israel’s enemies were destroyed and there was no death, and the government coalition faced internal challenges on domestic issues, as well as pressing questions about the fate of the rest of the hostages and the ceasefire itself. The look and unbearable scenes of the release of three latest hostages on Saturday further prove the urgency of taking them home. Furthermore, mere talk about deporting Palestinians from Gaza has aroused anger from Israeli Arab partners and has the potential to worsen further in the tense West Bank.
Any grand vision of Mr. Netanyahu must recognize the boundaries of possible and morality, and remember that this is not a conflict that money resolves, or simply because a powerful country says it should. Otherwise, Israel will waste crucial time, which will only push real progress further.
Shira Efron is a senior fellow and research director at the Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation for the Israel Policy Forum. She previously led the Israeli program at Rand Corporation and was consultant to a visit to Gaza at the United Nations in Jerusalem.
Times are committed to publishing Variety of letters To the editor. We want to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. These are some Tip. Here is our email: letters@nytimes.com.
Follow the New York Times’ opinion section Facebook,,,,, Instagram,,,,, Tiktok,,,,, WhatsApp,,,,, x and Thread.
