Donald Trump never ceases to surprise.
One might have concluded that Donald Trump had finished pulling rabbits out of his hat. After his suggestions of buying Greenland, making Canada the 51st state and retaking control of the Panama Canal, a person might have thought that that was it. But no. President Trump suggested on Tuesday in the presence of Binyamin (Bibi) Netanyahu “taking over” Gaza, removing its population and turning it into a mini-Riviera. People here in Israel woke up in shock to his proposal. Is it real or is it the starting position for a much deeper negotiation? Trump the builder was merged with Trump the president.
There are rules in the world that only apply to Israel. While an aging starlet claiming to have been attacked by a Hollywood producer early in her career will get enormous support and attention, the Jewish women raped and murdered by Gazans could not get the Me Too fake feminist frauds to say a word. And while most countries that win wars are given conquered territory as spoils, Israel has the unique requirement to return whatever land it takes. Russia’s offensive wars have netted her areas in Georgia and Ukraine. Her defensive war gave her Sakhlin Island and other Axis land. But when Israel responded to the October 7th massacre, she was told that she will have to leave Gaza completely. The second round of the present deal explicitly demands the same: Israeli forces are required to leave all of Gaza, including the Philadelphi Corridor. Egypt is howling for return of the latter to Hamas. There is no doubt that there is a massive multi-million dollar hole in their budget from the lost opportunity to help Hamas smuggle weapons and goods into Gaza.
Many Israelis have dreamed of returning to Gaza. The towns there were beautiful. My wife’s cousins lived in Neve Dekalim. She still remembers riding a horse along the gorgeous coast. I visited there once, and we used to joke that our kitchen was the last ever made in Gaza. Her cousin designed and built all of the cabinets just a few months before Israel ejected the Jews living in Gaza from their homes. Many would love the opportunity to once again live in Gaza. Everyone would like to have a future free of rockets and terrorist infiltrations. Can such a future become a reality?
On cue, Hamas and the Arab states denounced Donald Trump’s words. One good rule of thumb is never to bet against Trump. He does not win every battle, but his batting average is well over .500. I don’t know exactly how the U.S. could “take over” Gaza if Hamas refused. Israel is still holding large parts of the Strip, but Hamas holds the center. Who would turn over the keys to the place if not Hamas? There is no question that large parts of the place are in ruin. I was surprised when I saw trucks with cement entering recently. Who exactly is in charge of the cement being used to build up and not down? Right now, nobody. Israel has been aggressive during the ceasefire. Cars attempting to move north via a footpath have been blasted with rockets from drones above. Still, the “humanitarian aid” trucks roll in by the hundreds each day.
On paper, Donald Trump is right. The best and most efficient way to go forward would be to remove those present, and then get to work cleaning up, and finally building a whole new place. While many Gazans would probably look forward to getting out of the hellscape where their homes used to be, others would want to stay, if only to fight the Jews again. Will this be a military project to get the Gazans to go elsewhere? If so, who will do the shooting? If Gaza is rebuilt, what happens when the Gazans sent to the ends of the Earth demand to come back and live there? There are a lot of technical question surrounding Donald Trump’s surprise proposal, but again, I would not bet against the president, because as he has shown on both borders, he has a way of getting what he wants.
In a normal world devoid of antisemitism, the UN and others would tell Israel that she was attacked and whatever land she took in response is hers to keep. New army bases and towns would sprout up and the Gazans would learn that there is a price for killing Jews wholesale. But the world hates the Jews and hates Israelis more. At the cost of blood and treasure, Israel took Rafah, Jabalyah, and the center. No matter. Somehow Gaza is holy to the Palestinians and Bibi must give it back. Has the UN during the past 50 years asked Turkey to leave the part of Cyprus it conquered and holds to this day? Of course not. Maybe Israel should claim that Erdogan is Jewish and then the UN would denounce him as an occupier.
For 80 years, Palestinians and their distant supporters have chosen squalor and failure over peace and success. How is it that there are still “refugee camps” from events that occurred in 1948? Jabalyah was a refugee camp before it became a parking lot. There are such camps in the West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and elsewhere. The Palestinian leadership has convinced its people that it is better to live an awful life but keep the flame of Jew hatred burning than shake hands and move into nice houses and work at good jobs. Gaza in the hands of anybody other than the Palestinians would be a wonderland of lovely beaches, palm trees, and high-end neighborhoods. With the Palestinians, it will always remain a dump. They destroyed the cash-printing hothouses that Israel left them in 2005. In three days, there was nothing left of them.
Donald Trump has once again turned a subject upside down, this time the future of Gaza. Where do I send my downpayment for a new house on the beach there?