Trump’s proposal on Gaza: ‘Nation-building’ or a workable solution? Part 1

On February 4, during a joint press conference with President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump sent shockwaves around the world by floating the idea of the U.S. taking ownership of the Gaza Strip and overseeing its development. Trump said he wanted to develop it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”

Right on cue, the New York Times’ headline for the press conference was, “With Gaza Plan, an Unbound Trump Pushes an Improbable Idea.” And MSNBC’s MaddowBlog weighed in with “Trump’s new plan to ‘take over’ Gaza condemned as ‘deranged.’”

What I would call “unbound” is Hamas slaughtering 1,200 Israelis. And taking 240 hostages, only to rape, torture, and hold in terror tunnels. What I would call “deranged” is cutting off children’s heads in front of their parents and burning babies alive in ovens.

Have anyone at these media outlets put forth any other meaningful solutions? Of course not. They just parrot the very antisemitic United Nations’ talking point of dividing Israel into a “two-state solution,” which is impossible for many reasons. There’s already been a two-state solution by the United Nations in 1947, in which Jordan was designated as the Arab state.

Reagan was an actor. Carter was a peanut farmer. Bush knew baseball. And Obama was a … oh, yeah … a “community organizer” (whatever that is). I think we’re blessed at this juncture in time to have a president in office at who is a visionary and a builder/developer. King Herod “The Great” (who was king of Judea when Jesus was born) was an evil man. But he was a great builder and made significant contributions to Israel in Jerusalem, Masada, Jericho, and Caesarea. Below is a picture I took in the tunnel below the Western Wall in Jerusalem that shows Herod’s signature beveled-edged design on the massive stones.

The point being, despite Herod’s flaws (like killing babies), God still used his building skills to give the Jews their Second Temple and other great projects in Israel. Perhaps Trump can do the same in the Gaza Strip. And with the help of Israel and other countries in the region, it could help solve an age-old problem. This is the same “Gaza” where the Philistines lived and imprisoned Samson (Judges 16:21) and the Gaza that Amos prophesied judgement upon (Amos 1:6-7). The evil in this region goes back a very long time.

Past Presidents’ “Solutions”

But with all the criticism of Trump’s proposal, it begs this question: What meaningful ideas have any past presidents had in the last three decades?

• Clinton 

We all remember the iconic photo of President Clinton, Yitzhak Rabin, and Yasser Arafat on the White House lawn in 1993, which commemorated the finalizing and signing of the Oslo Accords. Clinton probably thought a photo op on the White House lawn is all it would take for peace in the Middle East. He looked the part—with his big smile and one of his infamous haircuts by his Beverly Hills hair stylist—but was in way over his head. 

The Jerusalem Post wrote on the 30-year anniversary of that event, “Whereas the terror that Oslo enabled made it a tragic failure for Israel, for the PLO the terror is what made it a success, because that was one of the goals set by the Palestinian leadership.” Arafat, reportedly once said he didn’t want his daughter to grow up knowing that her father had agreed to a peace agreement with Israel. How do you negotiate with someone like that?

• Bush

 In 2002, President George W. Bush promoted the “Roadmap to Peace.” Part of the deal was the “end of violence by Palestinians.” That’s like saying to the Italians they must stop drinking espresso! PLO leader, Mahmoud Abbas, has said, “We welcome every drop of blood spilled in Jerusalem.” They name their schools and streets after suicide bombers who die bombing Israelis and spend tens of millions of dollars every month compensating their families. 

Another tenet was “Palestinians must hold democratic elections.” They did just that in 2006, and the results? Hamas—a terrorist group—was elected. We Americans tend to think our democratic system is the catch-all solution for every country, but it only works when you have 51 percent good people. When you have a majority of terrorists who are voting, terrorist-rule is what you get.

The dumbest tenet of all was to “finalize borders and decide on who gets Jerusalem.” Just because a group of radical immigrants wanted it didn’t make it negotiable. If so, I would like to open negotiations with former President Bush for the eastern half of his 1,583-acre ranch near Crawford, Texas. But I’ll negotiate in good faith. I’ll just take the eastern 583 acres, and he can keep an even thousand. Yes, it was just that ridiculous. How would it go over if a group of immigrants claimed the east side of Washington, D.C., as their capital?

• Obama

In 2011, President Obama said that an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord “must begin with a return to the 1967 borders.” That comment was outrageous! They simply regained what was rightfully theirs in the first place in the Six-Day War. If I had been Prime Minister Netanyahu, I think I would have told Obama, “I’ll make you a deal. If you’ll go back to the pre-Louisiana Purchase borders, I’ll go back to the pre-Six-Day War borders.” It’s easy to be generous with another country’s land. 

Let’s never forget that Obama gave Iran, whose leaders continually chant, “Death to Israel” (and to America), billions of dollars in untraceable foreign currency that was delivered in an unmarked airplane. By filling Iran’s coffers, he, along with Biden, were largely responsible for the October 7 attack on Israel.

• Biden 

After Clinton, Bush, and Obama all failed with their ideas on solving the Middle East crisis, Biden seemed to say, “Hold my beer …” He quickly rescinded Trump’s sanctions on Iran. After the October 7 attacks, he turned his back on Israel while they were dealing with wars with Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and the “head of the snake,” Iran. He froze a shipment of 3,500 bombs to Israel, made unreasonable demands regarding aid to the Gazan civilians (while Hamas terrorists were reportedly stealing about 80% of it), and issued Executive Order 11415, which made Israel liable for sanctions if they “undermine the foreign policy objectives of the United States, including the viability of the two-state solution and ensuring Israelis and Palestinian can attain equal measures of security, prosperity, and freedom.” In other words, Biden tried to force Netanyahu to adhere to his disastrous ideas that would have been cataclysmic for Israel but good for Biden’s re-election efforts. Moreover, the Biden administration even harassed IDF veterans and reservists trying to enter the U.S. on work visas or green cards.

So, how is Trump’s vision for the Middle East different from all these past presidents, and will it work? How did the area become so evil? And who actually owns the land? Watch for Part 2.