You may have heard that in his press conference with Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday evening, President Trump proposed has proposed that the United States take over the Gaza Strip after evacuating its troublesome residents to live better lives elsewhere. Roll Call has posted a transcript of the press conference here. I have posted the 40-minute White House video at the bottom.
Trump’s vision is improbable and outlandish. Reacting on the fly, however, I thought that if you’ve ever visited the area, you might think it a grand idea. Gaza is prime beach front real estate sitting on what has become a terrorist hellhole. It could be something like “the Riviera of the Middle East,” as Trump envisioned.
The problem is more than a few bad apples. The people are the problem. If they had their druthers, they’d rerun the October 7 massacre until Israel is a cemetery. They live to kill. To kill Jews, anyway, although they don’t discriminate if you get in their way.
After the six days of creation God rested. In his project to turn the world upside down, shake it up, and undo the damage men have done, Trump continues at his labors. We wish him well. Even talking about a visionary breakthrough may serve a constructive purpose. In the meantime he sees to it that the United States is supplying Israel with the munitions it needs to defend itself, as Netanyahu observed.
Trump even talked about the possibility of committing American troops as part of the takeover. That is indicative of the hypothetical nature of the idea. It’s not going to happen, but talking about it may get things moving in the right direction.
Netanyahu saluted Trump for “thinking outside the box with fresh ideas.” He seemed bemused by Trump’s creativity. He certainly wasn’t going to throw cold water on it.
Trump must be the greatest supporter of Israel ever to occupy the White House. Implicit in his comments at the press conference yesterday was his understanding of the quandaries with which Israel is contending. He wants to break on through to the other side.
One fears that Trump will elicit an equal and opposite reaction from the Democrats and the rest of the world “inside the box.” Can Democrats ratchet up the hysteria from 11 to 12? Democrat Senator Chris Van Hollen called Trump’s proposal “ethnic cleansing by another name,” and there will be much more of that to come.
The gurus of Axios take in what they call “Trump’s wild Middle East vision.” Barak Ravid focuses on the “shock waves” (as the Axios headline has it) emanating from Trump’s big idea. He doesn’t even get to the axis of the isolationist right.
Adam Kredo’s Free Beacon story includes useful background and previews of coming attractions. JWR has posted the Washington Post story by Matt Viser and Michael Birnbaum in accessible form. The triple-bylined Reuters story covers the ground “inside the box.”
Netanyahu understands that Iran is the source of the problem. It generates the murderous instability that threatens every regime not aligned with it. Now it is on the cusp of developing nuclear weapons. What is to be done?
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