President Donald Trump is flying high. He calls it a "historic dawn of a new Middle East," resolving "3,000 years" of conflict, even though, in his speech to the Knesset, he couldn't stop himself from insulting former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama for their "hatred toward Israel," saying they could never have done what he did.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio went even further, "This is not just about restoring Gaza, it's about transforming the region. ... This is probably one of the most important days for world peace in 50 years." Understandably, no one wanted to rain on the parade, because the release of the remaining living hostages is a major accomplishment for which Israel has fought for two years.
But so much remains unanswered. The obstacles ahead are enormous, as are the uncertainties. Bodies of only eight of the dead hostages killed by Hamas have been returned, notwithstanding the promises in the accord. Hamas was back in the street, armed, executing so-called collaborators. Who will disarm them, and how? How will they be prohibited, as they are supposed to be, from participating in any new government? What will become of the Palestinians, not only those who are homeless and desperate in Gaza, but also the 3 million Palestinians living in the increasingly tense West Bank? Which countries will agree to participate in a security force charged with keeping the peace between what's still left of Hamas and Israel? Who will rebuild Gaza?
"If I was running this," Aaron David Miller, who negotiated Middle East accords for both Republican and Democratic administrations, told The Washington Post, "I wouldn't leave until the president had assurances that at least four working groups, all headed by a senior American official," were in place; the groups would be tasked with demilitarizing Hamas, establishing an international force, setting up governance and "an operation 'tin cup' to raise the billions that are going to be required to rebuild" Gaza. "If they don't approach it this way, I don't see how it's going to work. I can't tell you in 25 years ... how many peace conferences and big gatherings I went to. It's the day after the peace conference where serious people wake up and say ... what do we do now?"
Israel, Alan Dershowitz told me on my podcast this week, needs the equivalent of the Marshall Plan — which is how we rebuilt Germany after World War II — to rebuild Gaza. Trump, the real estate mogul, had earlier suggested turning Gaza into a "Riviera of the Middle East," a proposal that gave rise to visions of a new Trump tower and even more profitmaking by Trump and his family. While the peace plan provides that no Palestinians will be forced to leave Gaza, Trump on Monday was still trumpeting his expertise: "We can rebuild better than anybody in the world." We — and Israel — need to do that, not with fancy hotels but with safe housing, schools and hospitals.
And it is not just physical structures that need to be rebuilt. It is Israel's reputation, here in the United States and around the world. I grew up believing in Israel as a beacon of democracy among dangerous neighbors, as a country that shared our beliefs and our values. That is not how much of the world, and much of the younger generation here at home, see Israel today. The problem with democracies is that sometimes they elect the wrong people. It is time for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to go. This war went on too long. It was only when Trump finally put some guardrails on Netanyahu that the hostages were returned.
The plan provides that at some time in the future, "Conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood." But Netanyahu has already rejected a two-state solution. As for Trump, he said, "We're talking about rebuilding Gaza. I'm not talking about single state or double state. ... At some point, I'll decide what I think is right."
It is time for Trump, and the Israeli people, to do what is right and move beyond Bibi to a stable, long-term peace accord.
To find out more about Susan Estrich and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
Photo credit: Cole Keister at Unsplash
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