Simple answer
In response to Felice Friedson’s “Can it work? Trump’s bombshell of the century” (February 11), I would say that the simple answer is “no!” The over two million Gazan people do not want to leave, and the world’s nations do not want to take them in. Egypt and Jordan fear that taking in so many Gazans could destabilize them.
President Trump should investigate thoroughly before announcing such important proposals.
RICHARD H. SCHWARTZShoresh
Psychopathic fanatics
In “The deal’s flawed structure” (February 11), Herb Keinon is right to call out the suffering being inflicted on Israel by the structure of phase one of its deal with Hamas. The slow release of emaciated, tortured hostages was deliberately insisted upon by Hamas to inflict pain on Israeli society, and it is succeeding in doing so.
Keinon asks whether some other deal, kinder to Israel’s psyche, could have been concluded. The answer is unfortunately “no,” because the sadistic psychopathic fanatics of Hamas would all prefer to die rather than assuage any Israeli pain. The agreement as it stands is the only kind of agreement Hamas would conclude, precisely because of the pain it inflicts on Israel. Indeed, Israel has made it clear to Hamas that it has been successful in inflicting this pain, with its public laments about the hostages and their condition.
During World War Two, tens of thousands of American POWs, of the war against imperial Japan, were held in abysmal conditions and tortured. The Bataan Death March was a prime example. Americans were rightly infuriated and motivated by this to fight hard and win the war; at no point did the US seek a deal offering concessions to Japan in return for a slow drip of returning prisoners of war. It didn’t mean that our POWs weren’t cared about; it meant that Americans recognized the quickest path to saving as many of them as possible was total, unconditional victory.
Fortunately President Trump has now issued a deadline for Hamas to release all of its hostages, this Saturday at 12 noon, or “let hell break out.” It’s exactly the kind of language Hamas and the Middle East at large understands, and has a better chance of getting the hostages out than the kowtowing to the sadistic psychopaths of Hamas required by the Biden administration’s ill-conceived deal.
DANIEL H. TRIGOBOFF Williamsville, NY
God-given Bible
Regarding “Biblical rights to Judea & Samaria” (February 9): Elise Stefanik shocked Senator Van Hollen who asked if she agreed that Israel had a biblical claim to the entire West Bank. Her immediate unequivocal one-word answer, “yes,” took him aback. He then waffled on about UN resolutions as if resolutions by one of the world’s most corrupt and useless bodies could be compared with the God-given Bible.
This bodes well for Trump’s administration. The president signed an executive order last week, announcing that the US will not participate in the UN Human Rights Council; will conduct a review of its membership in UNESCO; and cease any of its funding to UNRWA.
The US, as the largest financial contributor to the UN, carries a big stick. It looks like Trump will not hesitate to let Stefanik, as the US ambassador to the UN, use it. We live in exciting times.
STEPHEN COHENMa’aleh Adumim
No other way
Regarding “World shocked at sight of emaciated hostages” (February 9): Your subhead cites Foreign Minister Sa’ar’s statement that the latest released hostages look like Holocaust survivors.
Until now, I opposed restricting supply of food to the civilians in Gaza. But if Hamas thinks it is alright to starve hostages, who were taken illegally, then it is alright to restrict food entering Gaza. Two wrongs don’t make a right, but Hamas must release all hostages immediately if they don’t want the Gazans to starve.
Let those Gazans convince them to do it. The world will scream at us, but there is no other way. The Palestinian prisoners due for release under the current deal should be freed only after the last hostage is released, provided Hamas does not try any tricks
JEREMY TOPAZRehovot
Uninhabitable rubble
Regarding “Saudi Arabia objects to PM’s stance on exiling Palestinians,” (Reuters, February 10): Much ink has already been spilled in rejecting President Trump’s idea of US ownership of Gaza and describing it as illusory. Yet, as we have often seen in the past, we shouldn’t take Trump’s seemingly wild ideas lightly. First impressions often move to acceptance when alternative policies have constantly failed.
Still, moving from concept to execution requires equally imaginative thinking. A first step in developing the future “Riviera of the Eastern Mediterranean” requires the removal of Hamas as a military and political entity in the territory. An important step in doing so would be to cut off the terrorist regime from any funding. It would require Qatar to immediately cease serving as Hamas’s ATM.
Then there would be a need to make sure that the humanitarian aid that flows into Gaza is kept out of the hands of Hamas, which pilfers and resells the goods and uses the proceeds to pay its fighters. Finally, the hands of the IDF must be untied to finish the job as quickly as possible.
The second step is to find territory that Gazans would voluntarily move to instead of remaining in the uninhabitable rubble for the next decade. If twisting the arms of Egypt and Jordan doesn’t work, then find other large land masses that have low populations, are Muslim, have Gaza-like beaches, and could be incentivized with financial rewards. Two that come to mind which meet these criteria are Puntland in northeastern Somalia and the Western Sahara.
Imaginative thinking could solve, once and for all, the festering wound that is Gaza, in a way that would redound to all involved, from its inhabitants to its neighbors.
FRED EHRMANRa’anana