OPINION: Netanyahu must seize Trump’s Gaza plan before the window closes

Last week, Bibi Netanyahu delivered a typically forthright and bullish address at the UN General Assembly. In a speech that was largely preaching to the converted, given that the majority of diplomats had exited the assembly, Netanyahu spoke of the strategic gains that Israel had made since the demonic savagery of 7 October. He spoke of how Israel had ‘hammered the Houthis’, ‘crippled Hezbollah’, ‘destroyed Assad’s armaments in Syria’ and ‘crushed the bulk of Hamas’s terror machine’.

He spoke with glowing pride at how the Israeli air force had launched a devastating blow to Iran’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, weakening the terror regime at the heart of the Middle East war. He went through the list of names that Israel had eliminated, including Yahya Sinwar, architect of 7 October, and Hassan Nasrallah.

He showed characteristic moral clarity in showing that the Shia-led axis of terror was a mortal threat to the West, not just to Israel, and that the failure to confront the ‘Islamist surge’ would lead to ‘an age of violence, fanaticism, and terror.’

He was quite right to point out that Israel’s timely intelligence operations advantaged Western nations, who were similarly forced to confront the menace of jihadist terror and ideological fanaticism. As Chancellor Mertz admitted, “Israel is doing the dirty work for all of us.”

Yet many of those same nations, as Netanyahu pointed out, had decided to reward Palestinian terror by recognising a non-existent state of Palestine, thus appeasing hostile populations and a biased media that were intent on demonising the Jewish State. Such craven appeasement was rightly denounced as a mark of shame.

Moreover, he was fundamentally right to highlight the Palestinian leadership’s intransigent rejection of a two-state solution for nearly a century. That is why the Prime Minister made clear that imposing a radical terrorist state on Israel, something rejected by the vast majority of the Knesset, was not remotely viable.

Yet one thing was noticeably absent from Netanyahu’s speech, namely a sense of how this war could end so that a new political reality could be created in Gaza. It is true that he spoke of new peace agreements between Israel and Syria and of expanding the Abraham Accords. But those realities are surely conditioned on ending the war in Gaza.

The main option for ending the war is the 21-point plan that has been promoted by President Trump. The plan envisages that postwar Gaza would become a de-radicalised, terror-free zone posing no threat to its neighbours. The IDF would be required to halt all operations, following which all hostages would be returned in exchange for prisoners in Israeli jails, among whom are over 1,000 Gazans arrested since the start of the war. Aid would flood into Gaza with at least 600 trucks entering per day, together with the rehabilitation of critical infrastructure.

There would be an amnesty for Hamas members who commit to peaceful coexistence, while those who wish to leave Gaza would be granted safe passage to other countries. Postwar Gaza would be administered by a temporary, transitional government of Palestinian technocrats who would provide day-to-day services for citizens.

It would establish a framework for funding Gaza’s redevelopment until the Palestinian Authority had undergone an extensive programme of reform, enabling it to rule Gaza. There would be an economic plan to rebuild Gaza, as well as a zone with reduced tariffs.

Crucially, Hamas would have no role in Gaza’s governance, and the plan requires the destruction of its military hardware in Gaza, including tunnels. This would be buttressed by a temporary international stabilisation force that would deploy in Gaza to oversee security in the Strip while also training a new Palestinian police force. There would also be a process of deradicalisation, including an interfaith dialogue aimed at changing mindsets and narratives in both Israel and Gaza.

There are demands on Israel too. It would have to withdraw from Gaza, agree not to annex territory and undertake not to launch further strikes in Qatar. It would also have to swallow the idea of a ‘credible pathway to Palestinian statehood’, though no exact timeframe is provided.

There are justifiable reservations about the plan and much that is left uncertain. Any notion of Palestinian statehood is a bitter pill to swallow, especially for the far-right coalition partners on whom Netanyahu depends.

But it is doubtful that Israel will get a better deal in the circumstances. Netanyahu can claim that the government is signing up to an agreement that removes Hamas from Gaza, returns the hostages to Israel and ensures that Gaza cannot be a security threat in the future. It is in his interests, and those of Israel, to give a thumbs up to President Trump and leave the ball in Hamas’s court.

• Jeremy Havardi is a freelance journalist and author