Netanyahu has a chance to fix mistakes in Trump meeting

Opinion: Following missteps and failures accrued throughout his political career culminating in Hamas' attack, the prime minister has an option to return Israel to the right path during his US visit

Amichai Attali|
Tuesday night could be Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s best chance to fix things. A man who has repeatedly proven his ability to rise from the ashes and overcome personal failures now stands before U.S. President Donald Trump with a chance to address national failures – many of which are deeply tied to his own political career.
This night is set to be one of the most fateful in Israel’s history and certainly in Netanyahu’s own. At 11:00 p.m. local time he will enter the Oval Office with some of Israel’s most pressing issues on the table — issues in which he has played a direct role in shaping the current reality.
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ראש הממשלה בנימין נתניהו טרם המראתו לוושינגטון
ראש הממשלה בנימין נתניהו טרם המראתו לוושינגטון
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
(Photo: Itay Beit-On/GPO)
Netanyahu has the chance to correct historical missteps resting on his shoulders. He must push Trump with all his might toward military action against Iran’s nuclear program. Though he was the first to identify the threat, he has been the last to act.
The failure of diplomatic agreements is evident — Iran is closer than ever to military nuclear capability. This must now be the top priority. Netanyahu must push Trump for the broadest possible military backing — an Israeli strike with U.S. support and likely direct American military involvement.
On Gaza, Netanyahu himself voted for the 2005 disengagement and orchestrated the Gilad Shalit deal in 2011, setting the unbearable precedent of releasing over 1,000 terrorists — many of whom had murdered, not only attempted to do so — in exchange for a single IDF soldier. Under his leadership Hamas thrived. Now, after these strategic failures, he has the opportunity to change course.
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The change must be decisive: Hamas cannot remain standing. After carrying out the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, it has shown fundamentalist Muslims across the region that kidnapping civilians from their beds is an effective tactic against Israel.
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הקפיטול
הקפיטול
U.S. President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
(Photo: Brendan McDermid/Pool Photo via AP, REUTERS/Carlos Barria, REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov/Pool)
Hamas and the hundreds of millions who surround us must see that there is no worse mistake than the October 7 massacre.
Netanyahu, who enabled Hamas through Qatari funding, who may not have received a precise warning on the night of October 6 but knew full well the terror army’s capabilities and intentions, cannot cleanse himself of this stain in Jewish history unless he ensures Hamas is entirely dismantled as a governing and military entity in Gaza.
Having voted for the disengagement, Netanyahu learned along with the rest of us that expelling Jews from Gaza brought terror to our doorstep. Now is the time to advance Trump’s plan for the voluntary relocation of Gazans — not by force, not through violence but with incentives and international cooperation.
Countries could take them in exchange for American aid, even with Israeli financial support — this is better than paying for endless wars. Netanyahu must put forth a serious plan to relocate as many Gazans as possible. This could be a game-changer in our relationship with that cursed strip of land.
עמיחי אתאליAmichai AttaliPhoto: Matan Tzuri
Fate has brought these critical issues to tonight’s meeting — all challenges Netanyahu has faced before. Until now, he has consistently chosen the easy, wrong path. Maybe tonight, a shift will take place — a historic correction that can set Israel on the course it deserves.
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