by Amichai Stein
The laws of physics can’t be bent, and when Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab states say they will oppose the plan, the question is: does Trump have "all hell" ready to force them to accept it?
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WASHINGTON – Just 24 hours ago, the idea of pressuring Gazans to leave the Gaza Strip was a concept associated with the Israeli far Right, but now it’s the official plan of the president of the United States.
“All of them,” said Trump, in response to this reporter’s question about how many Gazans the president thinks need to leave. Three words that made jaws drop inside the Oval Office at the beginning of the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
What started as a joke two weeks ago became an idea last week and is now officially US administration policy.“We’ll own the Gaza Strip,” Trump told reporters during the press conference. “We will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too.”
He even hinted that he was willing to send boots on the ground. “Egypt and Jordan won’t say no,” he told The Jerusalem Post. “I think there’s a good chance it will happen.”
The US president’s stubbornness makes it harder for this plan to disappear one day. In contrast to his decision on tariffs against Canada and Mexico, which are now frozen, Trump has set a very high bar with this statement.
It can’t just go away, especially if you consider that rebuilding Gaza will take 10 to 15 years. This fact won’t change. Trump, jokes the web, wants to turn Gaza into MAGA (Make America Great Again).
Netanyahu's response
Netanyahu’s statement on the issue was, “Trump has an unconventional way of thinking; he thinks outside the box,” he said, but he didn’t go as far as fully embracing it.
Yes, it seems Netanyahu enjoyed every moment of Trump’s statement, but deep down, he and other Israeli officials fear that Trump’s plan might cause turbulence among Israel’s neighbors.
The laws of physics can’t be bent, and when Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab states say they will oppose the plan, the question is: Does Trump have “all hell” ready to force them to accept it? Does he have plan B to convince them too?We won’t have to wait long for the answer. Next week, King Abdullah II of Jordan will arrive at the White House. What Trump says standing next to him will give us an indication of what the 47th president’s plans are for Gaza and its residents.
Amichai Stein
Source: https://www.jpost.com/international/article-840733
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