Donald Trump, in just his first month back in the White House, has once again managed to shake the world. His proposal to evacuate the residents of Gaza while the world builds the "Riviera of the Middle East" on the ruins of its terror infrastructure has not only shocked the Arab world but also sparked intense celebrations in the streets of Israel.
And as always, the dancing is both in joy and in sorrow. Because in Israel 2025, there is not a single issue— not even one— that can gain broad, consensual support, even when the matter at hand is not an Israeli one.
2 View gallery
Donald Trump, Gaza displaced return to north of the Strip
(צילום: Omar l-Qattaa / AFP)
Let’s be honest: when the U.S. president proposes evacuating the world's most wretched terror nest of its inhabitants, it’s unclear why so many Israelis rush to oppose it. What exactly do Israelis have to lose?
Still, it’s worth pausing to consider the implications of these jubilant celebrations among those who support the mass migration of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Palestinians from Gaza—to wherever that may be.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quick— and understandably so, from his perspective— to enthusiastically praise Trump’s surprising and refreshing idea. And there’s a reason for his warm words: Netanyahu has no realistic alternative to replace this intriguing fantasy proposed by the U.S. president.
When Netanyahu states in interviews— both with American and Israeli media— that the evacuation of Gazans is the "day after" plan he has long refused to formulate since October 7, he is essentially admitting that Israel has no real plan and that the war, which he clings to so desperately, is merely his oxygen tank. In other words, Netanyahu is admitting that he has no idea what can or should be done in Gaza— and frankly, why is everyone bothering him with it anyway?
Get the Ynetnews app on your smartphone: Google Play: https://bit.ly/4eJ37pE | Apple App Store: https://bit.ly/3ZL7iNv
No one really knows how this bizarre chapter in human history will unfold— a moment in which the leader of the free world casually suggests relocating two million people so they don’t get in the way of a demolition and reconstruction project. As usual, Trump is testing the waters— and succeeding— in proposing something that the politically correct establishment condemns before any serious discussion on its implications has even taken place.
It is entirely possible that this is a completely foolish plan, with near-zero chances of ever materializing. There’s also a significant chance that it is a deeply cynical scheme designed to grant Trump’s ultra-wealthy friends in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the U.S. a prime piece of beachfront real estate— based on the cold calculation that once two million people have been removed for an extended period, the odds of them ever returning are virtually nil.
Netanyahu on Trump's Gaza plan
(Video: Fox News)
In other words, this could be nothing more than a blatant, colonialist-style forced transfer, aimed at funneling trillions into the pockets of the richest of the rich.
And yet, this idea deserves a serious public debate. Across the political spectrum, Trump’s proposal— whether an actual plan or merely an offhand comment— should be treated with gravity and seriousness.
First and foremost, because neither the Israeli right nor the left has anything better to offer. Nothing. Nada. The Israeli political system is hollow, and its so-called "leaders" are incapable of producing any new ideas that could change the intolerable reality that Gaza continues to generate.
Attila SomfalviOctober 7 was not just a day of atrocities; it was an Archimedean point that gave rise to an entirely new political and geopolitical reality.
Therefore, it is impossible to treat this new reality as just a pale copy of what existed before. That simply cannot work.
Without descending into the usual clichés about Einstein, repetition, and failed experiments, perhaps it’s time to ask questions that are no longer bound by the shackles of paralyzing political correctness— the same mindset that has, for far too many years, prevented any real reckoning with the fundamental, inherent problems embedded in the DNA of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
- Attila Somfalvi is a strategic media and political consultant and founder of AS consulting