In “Trump electrifies the world” (February 9), Shmuley Boteach is effusive in his praise of President Trump’s recent proposal regarding the relocation of the Gazan population and American takeover of the strip (both ideas subsequently walked back by the US administration), describing it as historic and potentially transformative.
He extolls the merits therein, having an American neighbor on the border, relief for IDF involvement and betterment of life for Gazans. Later in his article, however, he does bring the proverbial pie in the sky down to earth as he outlines what would need to happen first.
First, the nations of the world would have to accept the plan, which they have not, and second, some nations would have to agree to accept an influx of some two million people into their borders, which they have decidedly refused to consider.
Third, we might add the question of self-determination of peoples, outlined by former US president Woodrow Wilson in his Fourteen Points, written into the Treaty of Versailles after World War I. How would the Gazan people express their wishes in the matter? The last time the Gazans voted regarding their future, after Israel’s withdrawal in 2005, they elected Hamas to lead them.
As Boteach further writes, although the proposal is creative and bold, its implementation would depend on the cooperation of all stakeholders. The glaring lack, to date, of any official word on the subject testifies to the still ephemeral nature of the proposal, no matter how electrifying it might seem.
MARION REISS
Beit Shemesh
No other solution
Regarding “An idea whose time has finally come” (February 7): Most of the comments on Trump’s bombshell announcement on Gaza have ranged from “completely impossible,” “contrary to international law,” “utterly ridiculous,” “Jordan and Egypt won’t accept Palestinians,” to – the more moderate – “he doesn’t really mean it,” “it’s just Trump shaking things up,” or – the more favorable – “it won’t happen but could lead to some better outcome than repeating the failed solutions of the past.”
The only really positive comment I’ve seen was the article by Gila Gamliel, the innovation, science, and technology minister.
The facts are clear; there is no other solution for the plight of the Palestinians trapped in the hellhole of Gaza. Those who claim it can’t happen are underestimating Trump’s determination and power of persuasion.
Many Arab states, including Jordan and Egypt, are virtually bankrupt; Trump can apply the stick: No more international aid, and the carrot: We’ll help pay for the creation of adequate housing for your temporary Palestinian guests. Knowing Trump, he might even strong-arm Qatar into contributing financially. Cutting off Qatar’s oil exports is just the sort of thing Trump likes to threaten.
From Israel’s viewpoint, getting the Palestinians, most of whom are the descendants of illegal immigrants from Egypt or other Arab countries, out of Gaza is the best solution for which we could ever hope.
Actually, rebuilding Gaza and developing the Riviera of the East is the easiest part of the plan. Hurrah for Trump!
STEPHEN COHEN
Ma’aleh Adumim
The greatest friend
Douglas Bloomfield (“The silence of the Jews,” February 6) warns of the new administration’s potential antisemitism, forgetting that Prime Minister Netanyahu recently called President Trump the greatest friend that Israel has ever had in the White House.
Since his return, Trump has renewed the delivery of essential weapons to Israel, stated unequivocally that Iran must never obtain a nuclear weapon, and initiated the cancellation of visas for foreign students who participated in antisemitic pro-Hamas demonstrations (Bloomfield dismisses them as “powerless activists”).
Bloomfield demeans alleged Nazi du jour Elon Musk who used an awkward hand gesture that Bloomfield describes as “Nazi-like.” (Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, darlings of the Left, have used the same gesture with nary a peep from Bloomfield.) Trump has asked Musk to identify wasteful government spending.
Democrats scream that Musk is dangerous because he is unelected. The Babylon Bee’s mock headline is apt: “Democrats warn that Trump’s unelected shadow government is dismantling their own unelected shadow government.”
Bloomfield disparages as an “unprecedented offensive against undocumented immigrants,” Trump’s decision to enforce American immigration law that had been flouted shamelessly under president Biden. He does not mention that ICE is targeting those who pose a danger to American society – criminals, violent gang members, potential terrorists, and court-ordered deportees.
Bloomfield says cabinet nominees such as Kash Patel are “egregiously unqualified,” probably because they hold views with which Bloomfield disagrees. Trump nominated Patel to renew the FBI’s professionalism by eliminating the politicization with which it had become infected.
Patel has served as a public defender, federal prosecutor, senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council, principal deputy to the acting director of national intelligence, and chief of staff to an acting defense secretary.
That is hardly unqualified Bloomfield criticizes Trump for rapidly changing his mind: “One day he declares a trade war and the next he shelves it.” Trump’s threatened tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods caused those countries’ leaders to change their policies overnight, bringing them in line with the very policies which Trump sought.
The previous four years saw foreign conflicts breaking out at an alarming rate, inflation reaching levels not seen in 50 years, illegal immigrants flooding open borders, and backdoor censorship by private platforms at the administration’s behest. Bloomfield cannot accept that the American people elected Trump to reset the nation’s dangerous course before it is too late.
EFRAIM COHEN
Zichron Ya’acov
Change the headline
Your banner headline about the latest hostage return (“World shocked at sight of emaciated hostages,” February 9) is a wish, not reality. I read the article several times. Not once did I read that the “world” was shocked at the sight of the tortured hostages.
We are the ones who were shocked, not anyone else: Not the Irish, Spanish, Norwegians, Belgians, or anyone among the other world hypocrites who call us genocidal for not shipping more aid to the apparently well-fed Hamas terrorists.
Please change your headline: The world doesn’t care one bit if our people are starved or tortured or murdered.
DAVID GLEICHER
Jerusalem