Trump’s latest fiasco: Gaza

US President Donald Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold a press conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 4, 2025. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)

I have been explaining for years to my friends here in Tel Aviv why having Trump as president of the United States is bad for Israel. See my blog: “Why Trump is bad for Israel.”

Almost always, my explanation has fallen on deaf ears. Most people here think that Trump was very good for Israel the first time he was President of the United States and are unshakable in that belief.

I hope that Tuesday will change that. Tuesday Trump met with Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud). After the meeting, the two men together had a press conference in the White House in which Trump set forth his plan for Gaza. It showed his complete lack of respect for law, his lack of understanding of Israel and the Middle East generally, and the implications of his proposal for Gaza. His enormous ego was also fully on display. That display demonstrated how seriously I had underestimated the danger that he poses to Israel, both domestically an internationally.

Tuesday, Trump set forth his plan for Gaza and Israel. It contains four key elements:

1. The United States would “own” Gaza and develop it, using American troops, if it was necessary to do so.
2. The United States would clear and rebuild Gaza. Once it had done so, it would turn Gaza over to an international body.
3. The residents of Gaza would be relocated in Jordan and Egypt.
4. He would soon announce whether Israel should annex the West Bank.

I blame the racist, ultra-religious, ultra- rightwing parties in Israel for this statement. They were able to do so by taking advantage of Trump’s total disregard for law, his enormous ego, and his background as a real estate developer.

Recently, Trump met with Bezalel Smotrich. At that meeting, the two men discussed Gaza’s future. Smotrich is a very scary figure in Israeli politics. He is a deeply-religious man who believes in his heart that God promised Abraham and Moses that all the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea to the Jews. He views Arabs as interlopers. His original proposal in how to deal with Hamas after the October 7, 2023 massacre was to drive all of the Gazans into Egypt and replace them with Jews. Even one Likud (Netanyahu’s party) member of the Knesset pointed out that Smotrich’s proposal would constitute ethnic cleansing, a war crime.

Smotrich, who heads the National Religious Party, does NOT believe in democracy. He has proposed that the law in Israel be Halacha, Jewish religious law made by Rabbis many of whom lived over 1,000 years ago. He is one of the two leaders of the ultra rightwing members of Israel’s cabinet, the other being Itamar Ben Gvir. Apparently when Smotrich met with Trump, he found a receptive ear.

There are numerous problems with Trump’s proposal. A country cannot “own” the land in a foreign state unless it purchases it. Someone else owns that land. This is NOT like developing real estate, though it would not surprise me if Trump is planning to build a Trump Tower Gaza. The problem is only exacerbated, if Trump uses American troops to rebuild Gaza. Further, who does he think is going to pay for all of this? If it is the United States, money must be appropriated by Congress, something it would be highly unlikely do.

His proposal to move all of the residents of Gaza to Jordan and Egypt all but ignores the fact that both countries have said publicly that they would refuse to do so.

The idea of annexing the West Bank is pure Smotrich. He is Minister of Finance, a very powerful cabinet Ministry which controls the budget. Smotrich also holds a Ministry within the Ministry of Defense. Together, they give Smotrich enormous power over the West Bank. He has used this power to promote his objective of making the West Bank part of the Jewish State. This includes authorizing the establishment of Jewish settlements which Israeli courts have previously held to be illegal.

Trump’s proposal also endangers Israel’s military. By adopting the Smotrich proposals, Trump is confirming that the the present war is a religious war between Jews and Muslims. This is sure to unify the Shia, including Iran, and the Sunni countries, including Saudi Arabia and the other countries on the Arabian peninsula. While Trump’s proposal may play well with the evangelical Christians on whom he is so dependent politically, it is hardly in Israel’s interest to again unite the Muslim countries.

Finally, Trump’s proposal completely ignores the realities that Israel faces with respect to the rest of the world. Israel is a tiny country – about the size of the State of New Jersey. It is heavily dependent on imports and exports. Moreover, it is highly dependent on tourists coming from around the world to Israel. It would not surprise me at all, if the Trump proposal were adopted, that the rest of the word, led by the European countries, would impose a boycott on Israel like the one that brought down the white government in South Africa.

Up to now, I, who lived most of my life in the United States, have been looking with horror at what Trump has been doing to the United States. Now that he is attempting to impose his ignorance on Israel, horror does not begin to cover it.