Best Trip Ever: Netanyahu in Washington

by Avi Greentzeig, former editor of the Kav Itonut chain and Hadrei Hadarim website, translated by Hillel Fendel.

Just over a week ago, when Prime Minister Netanyahu began an important trip to Washington as the first foreign leader to visit newly-reelected President Trump, the media here was rife with warnings: "Trump Demands that Israel Stop the War," "Trump Doesn't Like Netanyahu," and so on.

Over-zealous reporters rushed to tell us that the one-on-one meeting between the two would last "only 15 minutes," and pompous commentators in the TV studios explained that Trump would exact a high price from Israel. First and foremost, they warned us that Trump doesn't like wars and that Israel would not be permitted to continue its campaign to destroy Hamas.

And then came Trump.

In an unforgettable press conference before reporters from all over the world, Trump smashed to smithereens 100% of the prognoses, musings, nonsense and lies that had been heard here in the preceding days. The leader of the world gave Israel more or less every possible thing it could have asked for – and then added a bonus.

Not only did the president not hint in any way or form that he has any intention of restricting Israel, he actually made it clear that as far as he is concerned, Israel can renew the war and finish the job of cleaning out Gaza. He then added the words that shook up the world: “We should go to other countries of interest with humanitarian hearts, and … build various domains that will ultimately be occupied by the 1.8 million Palestinians living in Gaza… The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip [and] we'll own it…"

This little addendum that he stuck in was one that, had it been uttered five minutes earlier by an Israeli, would have led to a police investigation for possible incitement, ordered by Attorney-General Gali Bahrav Miara. Just ask former MK Michael Ben-Ari.

Even as we debate, justifiably so, exactly what the chances are that Trump's Gaza plan will be actualized, we must remember that its very announcement grants Israel some important gains. For one thing, it means that the U.S. has reversed the extreme anti-Israel policies (in some areas) of the Biden Administration - which leads in turn to a reduction of international pressure upon us. The Biden term's point of departure was that even given that Israel had no other choice after Oct.7^th, it is still a war criminal country. From this followed the halt of U.S. armaments to Israel, as well as strong American pressure to increase "humanitarian aid" to Hamas/Gaza. This led to the bizarre scene of the installation of a pier in Gaza, under American auspices, for the benefit of "innocent" Gazans.

Trump has changed the American perspective. As of now, the Gazans – whether because they are "unlucky," as Trump said, or because they are a bloodthirsty, murderous gang – must be moved aside and sent away. From now on, every discussion starts with that point of departure. If the Saudis or the Qataris, or even Hamas itself, want to soften the decree, it will be up to them to make an acceptable offer.

And then also came Iran. I've seen that there are many in Israel's nationalist camp who were disappointed that Trump did not declare outright war on Iran, or something close to it. But the truth is that when Trump said he would rather negotiate with Iran than go to war with it, he gave Israel even more than it needs regarding the Iranian nuclear threat. To elaborate:

Israeli thinking is that when we hear about "diplomatic understandings" or a deal with Iran, what immediately comes to mind is the Obama era. But with Trump, it's different: When he presents a diplomatic option, he is not referring to a temporary freeze or dubious understandings – but rather something that will put a total and absolute end to Iran's nuclear aspirations.

For one thing, Trump has already signed an order directing his Secretaries of State and Defense to do everything necessary to drive Iran’s oil exports to zero. In addition, he said clearly: “If we made the deal, Israel wouldn’t bomb them." Basically, Trump is simply telling the Iranians to destroy their own nuclear reactors, so that Israel doesn't have to. Sounds like a good deal to me.

Now that Netanyahu has returned from Washington, he can get back into the Israeli routine of petty coalition fights and wasted courtroom time about years-old articles on the Walla website. It is therefore worth remembering, briefly, the gap between what the media here originally expected and the reality - which includes "small" achievements in America such as the imposition of sanctions on The Hague, the launch of an official campaign against anti-Semitism on campuses, and another weapons package for Israel worth a billion dollars.

It seems that we can sum up very simply: This was one of the most successful, if not the most successful, trips to Washington, D.C. of an Israel prime minister. Its welcome results will accompany us for many years ahead.

Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister.

Trump's Golden Deal

by Dr. Meir Seidler, Senior Lecturer in the Jewish Heritage Department of Ariel University in the Shomron, translated by Hillel Fendel.

This past Tuesday evening, I set myself down in front of the TV and internet screens, and prepared myself for a long night.

The last time I remember doing something like that was when I was a boy and my parents gave me special permission to stay up to watch the legendary late-night championship fight between Muhammed Ali and Joe Frazier. And here it was, over 50 years later, and it was happening again.

This time, too, I watched and listened up to the end, jumping from one channel to another internet site and back again. I started with my favorite station, Reshet Bet, the news and talk station of the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation. It has a large selection of broadcasters who enjoy frustrating and angering me and my fellow nationalists. And since, like most Israelis, I like to get angry, I listen to Reshet Bet a lot. This particular time Reshet Bet was producing a special Trump-Netanyahu summit broadcast.

The atmosphere its broadcasters emitted was one of depression, something between extreme sourness and heavy mourning. The main topic discussed for many minutes at the beginning was Netanyahu's "betrayal" of Biden. That is, Trump had said that, in contrast with Biden, he himself supported Israel absolutely and without reservations – and Netanyahu did not come out in Biden's defense! Yes, I'm serious: The Reshet Bet journalists felt that the most important thing to talk about at this time was why Netanyahu didn't have a good word for Biden. In any event, the real news – the Trump-Netanyahu meeting and subsequent press conference – soon pushed even the critical topic of Netanyahu and Biden to the back burners, and the real show began.

And what do you know? Trump took the whole world by surprise. The plan that he came up with was something that we really hadn't thought of. He explained, perhaps three times, that the reason he wanted the U.S. to essentially border Israel is that the world can't go on making the same mistakes again and again, when all they lead to is more war and more suffering. When you think about it, what he said was totally logical. War, ceasefire, rebuilding, rearming, war, ceasefire, rebuilding, rearming, and so on, over and over. What business that wants to remain competitive would ever adopt a business model like that, one that has failed time after time?

Countries from all over the world have invested large fortunes of money in what has been called, in accordance with the best Orwellian tradition, the "peace process." These monies ended up supporting not housing and reparations, but only one thing: Arab aggression that has become increasingly more brutal and has brought upon us never-ending rounds of war. One round barely ends before the next one appears on the horizon. Just in the last 15 years we have seen Operations Cast Lead, Pillar of Cloud, and Protective Edge, then the fighting accompanying the 2021 Israeli-Arab revolt, Operation Summer Rains, and more.

And now comes along Donald Trump with a vision that no one thought of; he himself could not have imagined it up until possibly a year ago. His creative plan is to turn the Gaza Strip not into the 51^st state of the United States, but something close: a beautiful shoreline front of American-built and American-owned hotels, where "anyone who wants to" can live, presumably after having been vetted for terrorist backgrounds and the like.

And here must be said something that has not yet been said outright, but appears to me to be quite obvious: The Trump Gaza Plan will include the establishment of an American military base offshore of the Mediterranean Sea (or perhaps on the beach). This explains why Trump is pushing this plan so enthusiastically. It's not because he has become a Messianic evangelical who wishes to help Israel even more than Israel itself asked for. He's still the same businessman he always was – but now he is more creative and has the resources of a superpower in his pocket. This is a golden opportunity for the United States to improve its strategic status in our region. It's the kind of thing that happens once in a century – and it happened precisely when Trump was elected President with his Make American Great Again program atop the agenda. How wondrous are G-d's ways!

The U.S. military base will benefit from a friendly neighborhood, and of course will leave plenty of space for a tourism paradise on the beach. All this will supply the "thousands of jobs" that Trump promised – and there is no doubt that he will give priority to Israeli workers over Arabs, who are liable to turn hostile at any given moment.

This is also what stands behind the weakest link in Trump's plan: the transfer of all or most of the residents of Gaza to other countries. But even this part of the plan can become realistic. Given the tremendous interest that the U.S. has in implementing this tremendous strategic upgrade, and also the no-less tremendous aid that American provides Egypt, it is very likely that a solution will be found for the transfer. This is true especially when the countries of the region wake up to the tremendous economic potential for everyone when the dollars start pouring in. Egyptian and other workers will be glad to receive American salaries in order to build the grandiose American project that will take shape here. This is a dream that with G-d's help can and will come true!

We can only hope that in the framework of this unexpected plan – and of course given the most recent developments sparked by Hamas' threats and Trump's bellicose response – all the hostages will be freed before it's too late. Hopefully, the leaders of Hamas will be made to realize that they have no hope of remaining alive if they do not release the hostages. We can only pray that this works out, under the guiding hand of the Leader of History in Whose hands are placed the hearts of kings (see Proverbs 21,1). May it be soon!