There has been an international uproar since US President Donald Trump told reporters on Air Force One on a flight from Las Vegas last weekend that he wants Arab countries to absorb the population of Gaza during its reconstruction.
Trump merely said he told Jordanian King Abdullah II that he would like Jordan and Egypt to take in Palestinians temporarily or on a long-term basis and that he would discuss the matter with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
The idea was immediately mocked by Israel’s enemies and the usual naysayers. United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese called it “ethnic cleansing… illegal, immoral and irresponsible.”
Hassan Jabareen of the anti-Israel organization Adalah said relocating Gazans “would in fact be a continuation of the war, through the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.”
The Council on American–Islamic Relations called it “delusional and dangerous nonsense.” Qatari officials said it crossed a redline.
Even an analysis in The Jerusalem Post disrespectfully mocked the proposal, saying “Trump’s ideas for rebuilding Gaza and turning it into a successful beachfront state, kind of like a large Miami, face many hurdles.”
Knowing President Trump, such condemnations will only strengthen his resolve and determination to do the right thing by implementing this idea and proving all his critics wrong.
The president was right in saying that much of Gaza is currently inhabitable, though I would have preferred he add context, blaming Hamas for dooming Gazans by attacking Israel mercilessly on October 7, 2023.
He has worked in real estate long enough to understand that during lengthy reconstruction projects, out of the box thinking is required. Those who purport to care about Gazans should be gushing with praise for the president for caring enough to find them a positive resolution to their current problems.
And those like myself who do not believe Gazans are worthy of any mercy should welcome it as well.
Collective guilt
LET’S NOT mince words here. The people of Gaza are collectively guilty for invading Israel, murdering, raping and kidnapping Israelis and holding them hostage.
It was not just Hamas terrorists who held Israeli civilians captive. Physicians, journalists and United Nations staff from the upper echelons of Gazan society enthusiastically joined that nasty effort. It was Dr. Ahmed Al Jamal and his son, journalist Abdullah Al-Jamal, who held hostages Almog Meir Jan, Shlomi Ziv, and Andrey Kozlov at their home in Nuseirat. The IDF rescued them in June in the same operation that freed Noa Argamani, who President Trump hosted for his inauguration events.
The actions of the Gazan people prove they need detoxifying education before the reconstruction should even be able to begin. They are fundamentally evil, and they must pay a price for their actions.
The countries who take in Gazans should properly screen and monitor them to prevent them from causing further harm. If enough countries get involved, the international problem of Gaza could be solved.
Besides Egypt and Jordan, other Muslim countries like Indonesia and Saudi Arabia should take them in. Canada, Australia, Mexico, and every country in South America and Europe can take their share.
Egypt gave hope by accepting 70 terrorists in Saturday’s hostage release. Surely, they can also take Gazans who have not been convicted of any crimes.
IT IS IMPORTANT to keep in mind that before the October 7 attacks, the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman was moving full speed ahead toward normalizing relations with Israel and expanding the Abraham Accords. The attacks were aimed at scuttling that promise.
Trump’s administration will soon take action to move the accords forward and shift the dynamic of the Middle East in the right direction it was heading in during the president’s first term.
Bin Salman had told the Palestinians to get on board with the accords or miss the train. They missed out by not taking that advice.
During the war, the Abraham Accords premise of bypassing the Palestinians and moving forward the normalization of relations between Israel and Arab countries has been proven smarter. Taking the Palestinians out of the equation is the key toward reaching more successful accords, and relocating them is a good way to do that.
Getting Hamas out of Gaza would also be another blow to Iran. There is hope that the further weakening of Tehran will enable America or Israel to attack the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities and initiate a process that will lead to the regime change that is the key to making Israel, the region and the entire world safer.
It may sound like a serious challenge. But that is why Americans have elected a president who is such a bulldozer, after enduring four years of an ineffective commander-in-chief.
The power of this president is enormous. We need to support his creative ideas and work with him to make them a reality.
If he receives the international support he deserves, President Trump will succeed at making Gaza great again.
The writer is the chairman of Religious Zionists of America, president of the Culture for Peace Institute, and a committee member of the Jewish Agency. He currently serves as a member of the US Holocaust Memorial Council, appointed by President Trump. The views expressed here are his own. Martinoliner@gmail.com