The mind boggles when we consider the proposals being advanced by President Trump in his meetings with Prime Minister Netanyahu and announced at a subsequent press conference late Tuesday.
Trump thinks BIG and out of the box.
Perhaps he will turn our world upside down. It’s a very sorry world and could use some major renovations. But questions remain as to what will really happen. It is his style to make broad sweeping statements.
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Whatever evolves, the meeting with Trump represents a major diplomatic and political coup for Netanyahu. This, in and of itself, is a positive – providing our prime minister with additional clout and prominence. As one diplomatic source said: “We have completed a very successful visit that exceeded all our expectations and dreams. It was a historic visit in every sense of the word. Above all, this was the friendliest visit there has been between a US president and Israeli Prime Minister…the relationship between Netanyahu and Trump has never been stronger or closer. Those hoping to see rifts between the US and Israel were sorely disappointed.” (emphasis added)
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/403436
The two leaders began with statements to the press in the Oval Office, after which they held a meeting accompanied by staff. With Netanyahu were Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, National Security Council Chairman Tzachi Hanegbi, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter, Chief of Staff Tzachi Braverman, and Netanyahu’s military secretary, Major General Roman Gofman.
The prime minister and the president then held a private one-on-one discussion, followed by a press conference, after which Trump gave Netanyahu a personal tour of the White House’s second floor. The finale was a two-hour dinner, described as “warm, friendly and relaxed.”
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There are a number of strategically important issues to consider, but I want to begin with the hostages and stage two of the negotiations.
I read a statement by Trump’s mid-east envoy Steve Witkoff that the second stage had begun on Monday. As is often the case, there was a lack of clarity. I assume Witkoff meant that he had discussed the issues with Netanyahu in Washington. I do not believe we have sent a delegation to Doha yet; Netanyahu was set on speaking with the president first. He wants Dermer – who is not enthusiastic about that “second stage” – to head the negotiating team; Dermer is in Washington with the prime minister.
Yesterday, Witkoff told reporters that stage one was problematic: “Part of the problem is that it wasn’t such a wonderful agreement that was first signed – that was not dictated by the Trump administration. We had nothing to do with it.”
So, he’s blaming it on Biden, but this does not answer the question regarding why he pushed Netanyahu to accept this deal that he admits was not so wonderful. He cannot say he had nothing to do with it. Could he not have worked to develop a better plan instead of rushing to give Trump that inauguration boost?
Now he says that he’s working to make stage two better. He hopes to remedy the problems in Biden’s stage two, reports The Jewish Press, “when he meets with Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani in Florida Thursday.”
WHAT??
Qatar protects Hamas. Meeting with Qatar’s prime minister will remedy the situation? Remember that Witkoff has Qatar connections.
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I think about what’s coming next in Gaza a great deal, and with much angst. What we in Israel are facing is a “Sophie’s choice” situation. There are no easy answers:
Bringing out some of the hostages has created a focus on their situation, both with regard to a nation moved at seeing the touching reunions and pained by the stories of how they were cruelly mistreated in captivity. All of this reinforces the national desire to see the remaining hostages rescued.
However… what we are also seeing in the video clips of the hostages as they are brought out is a demonstration by Hamas of their ability to control matters inside of Gaza. One commentator observed that they may yet regret deliberately creating this impression. For it reinforces the recognition that we cannot and must not allow them to continue to strengthen even further. This would bring a dire situation for our nation.
And so, we wait to see what happens next. Several times I have seen reports about Netanyahu’s determination to go back to fighting. And Trump has made comments about the fact that the ceasefire might not hold – which might be read as implicit acknowledgement of what we must do going forward.
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I will return to the matter of Gaza below but first want to touch upon other issues.
One of those issues – a critical one, is that of an Iran that is on the edge of developing nuclear capacity.
“New American intelligence indicates that a covert team of Iranian scientists is exploring ways to quickly develop a nuclear weapon if the country’s leadership decides to pursue one…”
I, along with many (and I suspect we might include Netanyahu here), had hopes that once Trump was in the White House he would either give the nod to an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities – providing needed military equipment, or even join in the attack.
But that is not to be. Trump likes deals, and he is after a deal with Iran. Yesterday he announced that he would be reimposing ‘maximum pressure’ on Iran, in order to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons and to reduce its regional influence.
“Senior US administration officials noted that the new sanctions on Iran are aimed at key sectors of the Iranian economy, including the oil and finance industries. They stressed that the goal is to bring Iran to the negotiating table for a new nuclear agreement, which will include stricter restrictions on the development of nuclear weapons.”
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/403410
Apparently, what is planned are sanctions so severe – so crippling to the economy – that they bring Iran to its collective knees. Could work. If that is the plan, it must work and the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, already dealing with a nation in dire straits, must be bowed:
When asked if he and Netanyahu had a private agreement regarding an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, his response was “No.”
Myself, I might prefer that this would be the case – a backup, so that there would no room for Iranian cheating.
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Then there is the question of Israeli normalization with Saudi Arabia. Such normalization would be a major diplomatic achievement for Israel and further stabilize the Middle East. The Saudis, however, had been insisting that agreement on a Palestinian state had to be part of a normalization deal.
During the press conference yesterday, Trump was asked if the Saudis were demanding establishment of a Palestinian state as a requisite for normalizing ties with Israel.
His answer: “No. No, they’re not. Everybody’s demanding one thing. You know what it is? Peace.”
Within a short time, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs released what appeared to be a contradiction to Trump’s statement:
“His Royal Highness [Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister] emphasized that Saudi Arabia will continue its relentless efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without that.”
https://www.jns.org/saudis-contradict-trump-on-israel-reject-gaza-relocations/
There are those who believe there is wiggle room here, however. It hinges on the meaning of “that”: Is the prince saying that only after a Palestinian state is actually established will normalization with Israel be possible? Or does he mean that even if normalization does take place Israel should understand that Saudi Arabia will continue to work for a Palestinian state? The wording of the statement allows for this interpretation, and the Crown Prince may be playing to his street. There are indications that he cares not a whit about a Palestinian state.
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And now we turn to the Trump proposal for Gaza. In a nutshell:
The United States would take over Gaza – if necessary, US troops would be brought in. All of the residents of Gaza would be placed elsewhere. I have seen various statements as to whether this would be a permanent resettlement for them, or they would be able to return in time.
A full reconstruction of Gaza would then take place, and it would become an international zone. After several years (10 or more), it would become, in Trump’s words, “the Riviera of the Middle East…This could be so magnificent.”
https://www.jns.org/the-us-will-take-over-the-gaza-strip-trump-says/
This unexpected announcement was highly audacious. But that’s the Trump style. Whatever happens, it has stimulated out-of-the-box thinking, which is very, very badly needed here. And so in this respect the plan must be recognized as good. There have been too many years of trying the same formulas again and again, without success. Here is the challenge, now, for something radically different.
As one White House official put it: “The notion of lather, rinse, repeat — let’s do the same thing in Gaza we’ve done for decades isn’t going to sustain. We’ve been in this loop, this cycle … for too long and it isn’t working.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/05/politics/how-trump-decided-gaza-strip-take-over/index.html
The idea originated with Trump and some in his administration were not even aware he was going to say this.
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“He’s exploring it with his people, with his staff. I think it’s something that could change history,” declared Prime Minster Netanyahu, in a statement that was cautiously qualified. The plan is not yet fleshed out.
Former US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman declared:
“New Gaza will be a perpetual monument to the defeat of radical Islamism.
“What a day for America and Israel!”
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/403464
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La) called the plan “bold” action to try to secure peace and pledged to support the president.
Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a senior advisor during the first Trump term, speaks favorably of the plan. There is a report, citing an anonymous source, that Kushner helped Trump draft the statement he made announcing it.
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The most serious positive take on this proposal that I have yet seen is from Alex Traiman, CEO of JNS (emphasis added):
“U.S. President Donald Trump, sitting alongside Israeli Prime Benjamin Netanyahu, issued a geopolitical earthquake on Tuesday…
“The calls go beyond any concept of ‘total victory’ that Netanyahu has verbalized and possibly even considered at any point during the current war with Hamas in Gaza…
“Trump—in the way only he could do—has stated what should have been patently obvious to a normal observer but unspeakable for any world leader: Gaza is completely uninhabitable, and its residents will need to be resettled elsewhere.
“If Trump’s suggestions come to pass, it will not only represent a ‘total victory’ beyond even Netanyahu’s wildest imagination but represent the end of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Migrating nearly 2 million people out of the Gaza Strip will permanently alter the demographic reality between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, removing any parity of numbers between Jews and Palestinian Arabs.”
https://www.jns.org/trumps-call-to-resettle-gazans-could-end-the-israeli-palestinian-conflict/
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One of the major issues is the question of where the Gazans would go. The two locations that Trump has been talking about are Jordan and Egypt, and they have refused to participate. Trump believes he can coerce them because they receive American dollars, but I am not certain this would be the case.
Whatever reasons might be offered, the bottom line is that this is a troublesome population that would incorporate members of Hamas and Hamas civilian supporters. It’s a recipe for unrest.
The foreign ministers of Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and UAE have written a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressing opposition to the plan. Part of their concern is that it undercuts the possibility of enacting that “two-state solution.”
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Many Americans are seriously questioning the use of American troops in Gaza and are expressing concern with regard to a focus on rebuilding in Gaza when there is so much to attend to at home. What Trump has proposed is that for some duration of time Gaza would belong to the US, which would thus have to carry multiple responsibilities. (He was not suggesting financial responsibility.)
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has labeled the proposal as “problematic.”
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One criticism that is being leveled at the plan is bogus: That moving the Gazans out would flout international law and deprive the Gazans of their humanitarian rights. Nonsense.
The Gazans would not be forced out. Given the state of Gaza, were they offered an opportunity to live in a relatively peaceful locale, with the promise of a home and employment, they would likely run to the nearest plane. If their departure is voluntary, they are not being deprived of their rights.
The Gazans were deprived of their humanitarian right to flee a zone of conflict when Egypt closed the door to them at Rafah. Let there be no misunderstanding about this: Egypt was flouting international law with the sanction of the Biden administration, which did nothing to change the situation in spite of having leverage that might have been employed.
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Already there are attempts within the Trump administration to walk back parts of what he proposed on Tuesday. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, for example, has now said that Trump was “not yet committed” to putting US troops on the ground in Gaza. She clarified that the relocation of Gazans would be “temporary,” and that the US would be working with “partners in the region.”
We are going to see explanations, modifications and fleshing out of this plan. Whether the final version will be even remotely viable remains to be seen. I am eager to see what may be stimulated and what may evolve down the road. We may yet be seeing better days.
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I ask for prayers for Israel’s wellbeing – for the wisdom and strength of our leaders and the safety of all Am Yisrael.
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©Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by independent journalist Arlene Kushner. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution.
