In a dramatic moment during a White House Dining Room panel discussion yesterday, President Donald Trump received a note and a whispered message from Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“Very close,” Rubio had scribbled. “Need you to approve a Truth social post soon so you can announce deal first.”
That is, a coveted and seemingly once-impossible deal with Hamas and Israel, two years after the terrorist leadership invaded from Gaza in the most infamous day of the 21st century (thus far) for the nation of Israel. Trump indeed had himself a deal. No one could (or should) deny that it’s a big deal for Donald Trump. Even CNN could not hold back the praise: “[A]fter months of false hope, stalled progress and entrenched positions,” reported CNN, “the agreement was a clear victory for a president who has, in recent weeks, seemed intent on willing his plan into reality.” (RELATED: Two Years Later, ‘Much of the World No Longer Remembers Oct. 7’)
Indeed. The indefatigable Trump willed it into reality.
Had a Democrat president done this, the Nobel Committee would be polishing up its prize to serve to him as soon as humanly possible. But the Nobel Committee was hijacked by left-wingers. It doesn’t award Republican presidents. Only Democrat ones. Recall that it had ludicrously recognized President Barack Obama in October 2009, mere months into office, before he had done anything. Even Obama sensed the ridiculousness of the whole spectacle, admitting it was “not deserved.” “I am both surprised and deeply humbled by the decision of the Nobel committee,” said Obama. “Let me be clear, I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments.” (RELATED: Saudi Arabia Is Trump’s Ticket to the Nobel Peace Prize)
Of course, not. Because at that point, Obama had no accomplishments. The committee awarded him without them.
Ultimately, Obama’s presidency was not one permeated with Middle East peace, with the secretary of the Nobel Committee himself later regretting the prize he had bestowed. Among other Middle East messes, ISIS exploded during the Obama years, wreaking havoc on the region.
Obama was succeeded by Donald Trump in the Oval Office. Trump proceeded to stun all of us by negotiating the Abraham Accords in September 2020. The Accords were named after the great Jewish patriarch Abraham, the common forefather of Jews, Christians, and Arabs. The Accords normalized relations between several major Arab nations — the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan — that theretofore had never recognized Israel’s right to exist. President Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, played the primary role as chief negotiator.
Prior to the Abraham Accords, the only Arab nations that had recognized Israel’s right to exist were Egypt via the Camp David Accords in the late 1970s (negotiated by President Jimmy Carter) and Jordan in 1994 (mediated by the Clinton administration).
The Abraham Accords were an extraordinary achievement. Any (Democratic) president other than Donald Trump would have won the Nobel for the agreement.
Trump was succeeded by Joe Biden in the Oval Office. “Sleepy Joe” earned that moniker in the Middle East, not doing squat to bring more Arab countries into the Abrahamic fold. Instead, the Middle East quickly went to hell in a handbasket under Biden. He marked his first anniversary of 9/11 as president — Sept. 11, 2021 — with a returned Taliban flying its flag over Kabul. Maybe the only sicker image was the guy falling from the bottom of a jet airplane trying to escape Kabul.
Six months after the Taliban took back Afghanistan, Vladimir Putin jackbooted his Russian troops into Kyiv. A year and a half later, Hamas invaded Israel. And throughout the Biden term, the Iranians rearmed and licked their chops at the thought of burning up Jews with missiles fired into Tel Aviv.
Since Donald Trump returned to office, things have rapidly changed dramatically in the Middle East. The Abraham Accords are moving ahead once again, with the hopes of new Arab countries recognizing Israel’s right to exist, namely, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. The Iranians have cooled off after having been hammered by Israeli and American bombs. And now, lo and behold, Trump took the lead — with crucial help from Arab allies that he brought along — in brokering a peace deal between Hamas and Israel.
The deal is quite comprehensive, based on 20 points. Most salient among them, the plan states that the war must “end immediately” and that all hostages held by Hamas must be released within 72 hours, during which “Israeli forces will withdraw to the agreed upon line to prepare for a hostage release.” During this time, “all military operations, including aerial and artillery bombardment, will be suspended, and battle lines will remain frozen.”
Particularly significant, the agreement states that “Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza.”
Amazingly, the proposal asserts that neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority will be governing the Gaza Strip.
Amazingly, the proposal asserts that neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority will be governing the Gaza Strip. It “will be governed under the temporary transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee, responsible for delivering the day-to-day running of public services and municipalities for the people in Gaza.” This committee will be an international body that includes respected international leaders such as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Anyone but Hamas!
Interestingly, in a statement uniquely inspired by Donald Trump, the proposal even talks of a “Trump economic development plan to rebuild and energize Gaza,” which “will be created by convening a panel of experts who have helped birth some of the thriving modern miracle cities in the Middle East.”
No doubt, as Trump has said, the economic development potential of the Gaza Strip is huge. It’s an incredible strip of beachfront along the Mediterranean that could be another French Riviera or Hong Kong, with the right leadership. That is, with elected leaders who aren’t terrorists hellbent on the destruction of Israel. Gaza needs leaders who commit their people to prosperity and decency rather than militancy and violence.
Trump is a former real estate developer who totally understands the real estate potential of Gaza for its citizens. It’s a transformative vision. (RELATED: Let The Man Cook)
CNN rightly notes that “It is too early to declare the war over. A number of issues remain outstanding, and further negotiations could uncover unbridgeable gaps between the two sides.”
Indeed, one should never be too hopeful about the prospects of peace in the Middle East. I’m firmly convinced that nothing short of the Second Coming will ever bring permanent peace to the region. Nonetheless, every president must do their part to try to bring peace in their time. Few have done this as successfully as Donald Trump. (RELATED: Who Is to Blame for Civilian Deaths in Gaza?)
“I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan,” Trump posted on his Truth Social, hailing “the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace.” (That’s the language of historic Middle East agreements such as U.N. Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 in 1967 and 1973.) “This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!”
Yes, blessed they are. Few would have ever expected Donald Trump to be a blessed peacemaker in the Middle East. But thus far, the results are undeniable.
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