During his first term in office, President Trump was a steadfast ally of Israel, acknowledging Jerusalem as its eternal capital by moving the embassy, recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan, and instituting the Pompeo Doctrine, stating that Jews living in Judea and Samaria did not violate international law.
While many of his opponents tried to discount the Abraham Accords as a non-achievement, it stands as a foundation for peace and prosperity in the region. The agreement was achieved by discarding decades of unsuccessful policy based on the false premise that peace between Israel and any Arab state could only be achieved through the creation of a Palestinian state. The Biden administration rejected the success of the Abraham Accords and returned to a policy based on a horribly misnamed “Two-State Solution.” Biden’s policy of appeasing Iran was directly responsible for the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the resulting multi-front war Israel is currently fighting.
Less than a month into his second term, the “Trump effect” results are already being felt in the region. After almost two years of negotiations by the Biden administration based on a strategy of pressuring Israel, Israeli hostages were still languishing in Gaza. The threat of a pro-Israel administration resulted in a ceasefire agreement that released some of the hostages.
But it is already clear that the best is yet to come. Netanyahu is currently in Washington as the first foreign leader hosted by Trump at the White House. And the news coming out of the Oval Office is stunning. Just a few weeks ago, Saudi Arabia threatened that they would not sign an agreement normalizing relations with Israel that did not include the creation of a Palestinian State. Trump announced on Wednesday that the Saudis had backed down and would consider an Abrahamic agreement with Israel. He also announced that the hostage release deal would be completed.
Perhaps the most stunning revelation was a typically straight-to-the-heart-of-the-matter solution to Gaza proposed by Trump. Much of the debate over Gaza has focused on the day after the war ends. While it is clear that Hamas cannot be allowed to rule Gaza, the Palestinian Authority has allied with Hamas. It has shown itself to be unstable and a promoter of violence. Anti-Israel elements from other countries object to a return to 2005 when Israel controlled the security in Gaza.
So Trump announced an entirely unexpected proposal on Tuesday:
“The US will take over the Gaza Strip,” Trump said at a joint press conference. “And we will do a job with it too. We’ll own it.”
“We will be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, [for] get[ting] rid of the destroyed buildings, level[ing] it out, [and] creat[ing] an economy development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing to the people of the area,” Trump said.
The president said the Palestinians “have no alternative” but to leave the “big pile of rubble” that is Gaza and voluntarily relocate to one or more countries “with humanitarian hearts.”
“[We’ve got to] do something different. You just can’t go back. If you go back, it’s going to end up the same way it has been for 100 years,” he said, adding that other regional leaders backed his idea.
“It should not go through a process of rebuilding and occupation by the same people that have… lived there and died there and lived a miserable existence there,” Trump said.
He described his vision in which the “world’s people” would settle in Gaza once the US finishes rebuilding it, and that while the Palestinians could be among them, the site on the Mediterranean will become an “international” hub.
“I don’t want to be cute. I don’t want to be a wise guy,” Trump said, adding that Gaza could become “the Riviera of the Middle East. This could be something that could be so magnificent.”
He admitted that US troops could be sent to the area “if necessary.”
While Palestinians prefer to advance a “victimhood narrative” that paints Gaza as an “open-air prison,” it is an idyllic locale on the Mediterranean Sea. Before the Jewish communities of Gush Katif were forcibly expelled in 2005, the region hosted a thriving agri-industry that exported more than $80,000 of produce every day.
When considering the future of Gaza concerning Israel, it is essential to understand its role in the Bible and prophecy. Gaza appears 18 times in the Hebrew Bible and is listed in Genesis 10:19 as being included in the southern border of the Promised Land. Gaza was, nonetheless, sporadically conquered and occupied by foreigners, including the Assyrians, Philistines, and Egyptians. It was, in fact, one of five Philistine cities on the coastal plain of Israel, remaining as one of the cities that Joshua failed to capture in his lifetime (Joshua 10:41).
Rabbi Yekutiel Fish, a respected mystic rabbi from Jerusalem who authors a Torah blog titled Sod HaChashmal, praised Trump’s plan and predicted that its success was inevitable.
“Trump is a successful man and puts together business deals that no one else could manage,” Rabbi Fish said. “For him, this is a deal that all sides benefit.”
But Rabbi Fish saw Trump’s Gaza plan as part of a bigger picture.
“Everyone is focused on Gaza, but that is only one part of the end-of-days agenda, which has the Jews living in Israel’s prophesied borders,” Rabbi Fish said. “The Torah explicitly includes Gaza. What Trump is doing is cleaning out Gaza of all the haters of Israel. They cannot be in Israel after the Messiah comes. After the Messiah, the only people who can be in the Biblical borders of Israel are those who believe He is One and His name is One. This will include Gaza, half of Lebanon, and much of Jordan.”
And we see that we are almost there. Syria fell. Lebanon is half gone. Gaza is ripped up. The stage is nearly set for Messiah. But how can the Palestinians be here when we go to greet the Messiah? The Messiah needs someone to take care of this, and in this case, it is Donald Trump. Trump is merely carrying out the final tasks needed before Messiah is revealed,” Rabbi Fish said.
