The great irony—will Trump save Israel from itself?

As a liberal Jew who lives in the USA and Israel, I was shocked and dismayed by the recent election of the arch-felon, convicted rapist, super isolationist, anti-immigrationist, ultra-racist, misogynist and foul-mouthed leader of the Republican Party as president of the USA in November 2024. (I was similarly disgusted a little over two years ago when Bibi was able to put together a coalition of the most extreme right-wing elements in Israeli society to form the worst government in the history of the state of Israel.) I am still in denial and despair from Trump’s many outrageous executive orders, outlandish nominations for important cabinet positions, and his wild statements on many issues of the day in the media all the time. But on one issue, I am with him: the redeeming of the Israeli and foreign hostages in Gaza and the end of the Israel-Hamas war.
I realize that this is a great irony, that I do not agree with almost anything else he and his wild administration are doing, especially domestically in the USA, but on this issue he is clearly doing the right thing, even if he is doing it for the wrong reasons, such as isolationism and potential monetary benefit from a big deal with Saudi Arabia. I especially like the idea that he might be able to finally reign in Israel’s irresponsible and dangerous prime minister, Mr. Netanyahu, who has prolonged this war for much too long, due to pressures from his extreme right-wing partners in his fanatic coalition and due to his prioritizing his political survival above all else.
Netanyahu ran circles around President Biden and Secretary of State Blinken for 15 months. They were not able to control him, despite all their attempts, good intentions, and even threats. They did not succeed in catalyzing him to decide to stop the war and bring home all the hostages. Apparently only Mr. Trump could do it (and it seems that Bibi also stalled for a long time, waiting for his friend Donald to take office). The great hope now is that Trump will be able to do actually convince Bibi to complete all the phases of the deal (that he takes credit for, even though he and his team did not put it together) swiftly and successfully.
The big question is: can we really rely on Trump? Will he be stable and consistent enough? Or will he make outrageous statements and promote unrealistic ideas, such as transferring 1-2 million Palestinians to Jordan, Egypt, Albania, Indonesia or God knows where else (temporarily or permanently??), ideas that will only complicate matters and demonstrate that he is wildly irresponsible and still very much a loose cannon?
And, of course, can we trust the ever wily and untruthful Netanyahu? Based on experience, the answer is probably not! He is still playing his old political games by trying to keep the fanatic anti-everything guy, Mr. Smotrich and his political party known as “Religious Zionism“ (or as I prefer to call it “Blasphemous Anti-Zionism”) in the government. And he is holding open three ministerial positions that were vacated a few weeks ago when ultra-racist Itamar Ben Gvir and his partners from their Kahanist political party known as “Jewish Power” who left the government in protest against the deal that has been reached for a long ceasefire and 12 weeks of redemption of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. Bibi apparently still hopes that somehow, he will connive or bribe them to return to the coalition, which they will not do if Trump and he actually end the war.
Without doubt, Netanyahu cannot be trusted to act wisely or prudently to finish phases one and two in the agreement, which bring all the hostages home and end this war! Nor can he be expected to enter into sincere negotiations which would create an alternative Palestinian administration in Gaza, an idea which he has refused to discuss until now. Unless the Trump administration forces him to do things which he has totally rejected for a very long time.
Trump and Netanyahu—what a team!! Two extreme right-wing autocrats, schemers, liars, smug, capricious politicians, who promote fake news, incite their followers to hatred and even violence towards those who disagree with them, and both are drunk with power. This is what it all comes down to right now, this week, in Washington DC, on Tuesday, at their fateful meeting, with all their trusted and not-so-wise advisers. Can they succeed in carving out a real plan for moving forward, for completing phases one and two of this difficult deal, which will end the war and restore calm to the region? Will they come up with carefully crafted constructive ideas which will enable Gaza to be rebuilt, re-arrange who runs it, provide security for Israel, and create a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia which will be beneficial for Israelis, Palestinians, and everyone else in the region?
These are very big questions and the answers are far from clear. Based on many years of real-life experience, it is very difficult to trust them.
Nevertheless, with all my fear and trepidation, I hope that they can do it now, at this very precarious time in American and Israeli history. Despite all my misgivings about them and their motives, I wish them—and all of us—success in their meetings on Tuesday.
There are many ironies in our lives as people and as nations. The fact that we have to rely on these two macho men to get us out of the mess that Hamas and Israel have created in our region, is undoubtedly the biggest irony in recent history. However, at this particular moment in time, we don’t have much choice. Let’s hope for the best.