Israel Hayom: Trump is taking a destructive step for Israel and Netanyahu is indifferent
An article by the Israel Hayom (Israel Today) newspaper said that US President Donald Trump’s recent move on the Gaza plan and the Palestinian state has sparked great tension in Israel, especially with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s silence.
The article noted that the United States, in cooperation with Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan, and Türkiye, has officially declared that the goal of the Gaza plan is the establishment of a Palestinian state, a position that has never been explicitly made even under a democratic administration that has faced tensions with Netanyahu.
Netanyahu, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and senior Israeli officials have repeatedly stressed that the establishment of a Palestinian state after the October 7, 2023 would be a reward for terrorism, and they have acted in accordance with this position by opposing French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state two months ago.
The latest US move is different, as it didn’t ask for any strict conditions on the Palestinians, such as stopping “terrorism” or fighting corruption, and didn’t mention Hamas as the perpetrator of October 7 “massacre,” but rather didn’t condemn the “massacre” itself.
Netanyahu’s silence in the face of this US position makes Israel appear to be capitulating by not taking any action, noting that some right-wing ministers have expressed their opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
But the official decision-maker, as he put it, hasn’t moved and seems unable to stop what is being prepared.
The US statement came after weeks of intense behind-the-scenes talks with several countries, and is considered a final text that will become part of the expected UN Security Council resolution, not just a side announcement.
The US draft resolution indicates that Palestinian statehood will be possible after the implementation of PA reforms and Gaza’s reconstruction, which constitutes a major diplomatic shift.
The United States is leading the effort and dealing a political blow to Israel, and if compared to Security Council Resolution 2334, which passed during the administration of former US President Barack Obama, this blow is stronger than that resolution, which didn’t mention the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The attempts of Netanyahu’s advisers to provide legal justifications indicating that the decision is based on Trump’s 2020 plan, which contains conditions that practically prevent the establishment of the state, aren’t convincing, adding that the conditions referred to don’t appear in the expected text of the US draft resolution, which makes the US position clear and direct.
The international dynamics are complex, and that Israel will face a difficult reality on the ground without any guarantees of control over the outcomes, according to the article.
The article concluded by saying that the expected UN Security Council resolution won’t condemn the “mass killing” committed by the Palestinians in the “October 7, 2023 massacre,” but will give the “killers” a path toward a Palestinian state, with Trump leading this resolution with Netanyahu’s tacit approval, calling it “a political and diplomatic collapse for Israel at this crucial moment”.
