Ben Gvir’s Naive Palestinian Emigration Plan

Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, is flogging a dead horse.

Ben Gvir, the leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit Party, is trying to revive a dangerous idea that has no chance of being implemented and, furthermore, would bring the wrath of the region and the international community on Israel.

On September 3, he announced a plan to expel the Palestinian Arab inhabitants of the Gaza Strip. The supposedly voluntary scheme is contingent on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition winning the general election on October 27.

Ben Gvir said he would not rejoin the government unless Netanyahu agrees to establish a dedicated ministry, to be known as the Emigration Ministry, that would be in charge of facilitating the “voluntary emigration” of Gaza’s 2.2 million residents.

Under his proposal, 250,000 Gazans would leave within the first year. Virtually all the rest would depart within the next seven years. It would require an initial investment by Israel of $3 billion and up to $15 billion in matching funds from international donors/partners.

Emigrants would receive an “absorption package” that would cover much of their cost of travel, housing, vocational training and employment for up to two years. Payments to host countries would be based on the number of Gazans they admit. Potential destinations could be Turkey, Ethiopia and the Congo, according to Otzma Yehudit.

Ben Gvir said he was inspired by Rehavam (Gandhi) Ze’evi, a government minister who advocated the transfer of Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank. A former army general, he was assassinated by Palestinian terrorists in Jerusalem in 2001.

“What a shame they didn’t listen to Gandhi,” Ben Gvir said in announcing his plan. “It’s time to admit it: Gandhi was right!”

Ben Gvir announced his proposal a day after Defence Minister Israel Katz disclosed that the government remains invested in the mass emigration of Gazans. Citing surveys Israel has conducted, he claimed that about 80 percent of Gazans want to emigrate. “There is no real solution for Gaza in the end without this migration,” Katz said. “Hamas isn’t allowing them (to leave).”

Katz acknowledged that the unwillingness of foreign countries to take in such emigrants is the “big issue” blocking the implementation of the plan, which, he said, is currently “frozen.”

If these countries revise their policy, the Israeli government would be ready “to get them out, by sea, by air, by every way possible,” he said.

Katz noted that US President Donald Trump placed the issue on the table during a press conference at the White House in February 2025 during which he talked of developing Gaza into a luxury resort destination.

Trump’s suggestion elicited a strong negative reaction from the Palestinians and Arab states, but it prompted the Israeli government to create a special directorate within the Ministry of Defense to facilitate “voluntary emigration.”

After presenting his Gaza peace plan last October, Trump abandoned the notion of emigration and pledged to “encourage people to stay and offer them the opportunity to build a better Gaza.”

Nonetheless, judging by Ben Gvir’s and Katz’s most recent remarks, Israel still hopes to revive it.

This is not likely to happen.

Israel appears to be the only country in the world promoting this moribund, impractical and unrealizable plan.

Even Israel’s chief ally, the United States, no longer supports it.

Although Gaza was virtually destroyed during Israel’s two-year war with Hamas from 2023 to 2025, the vast majority of Palestinians intend to remain there, come what may. They will not leave voluntarily. This steadfastness is deeply etched into the national consciousness of Gazans, who fear that their departure would swiftly lead to Israel’s settlement and annexation of Gaza.

This is not mere speculation.

On September 2, Netanyahu visited an Israeli army post in Gaza and declared that Israel has no intention of withdrawing from the coastal enclave. Currently, Israel occupies about 60 percent of Gaza. Hamas runs the rest of it, with the vast majority of Palestinians living under its rule.

“We are not withdrawing,” said Netanyahu in reference to the Yellow Line that demarcates the border between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. “We are staying on this line. And there is still more to come, because we are eliminating the terrorists who threaten us. We do this day in and day out.” He added that the Israeli border towns of Ashkelon, Sderot, Netivot and several kibbutzim can be seen “in every direction” from the army position he visited.

Israel is abiding by the territorial status quo until Hamas is completely disarmed and Gaza is demilitarized and deradicalized. Realistically speaking, this is a process that may take years, or may never happen.

In the meantime, the assumption that the Palestinians en masse will leave Gaza voluntarily is naive. The emigration plan that Ben Gvir and Katz have presented is nothing but pie-in-the-sky foolishness that tarnishes Israel’s image and reputation.

Israel should instead concentrate on achieving a pragmatic rapprochement with the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank that respects Israel’s need for security and the Palestinians’ aspiration for self-determination.

That is the only way forward, now and in the future. Too much bloodshed already has been shed.