Trump, the Abraham Accords, and my Gaza solution - opinion

With the clock ticking down to Donald J. Trump re-entering the White House as the 47th president of the United States, the same clock is also ticking down in Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, which begs the question: What is the best post-war solution for Gaza in the context of a fractious and dangerous Middle East?

Earlier this year, The Jerusalem Report published my concept of a future Gaza as a model for a new Middle East My concept is to convert a destroyed Gaza into an Abraham Accord project built on the known concept of protectorates and in Gaza’s case, not based on the support of one large nation but a collective protectorate of the existing Abraham Accord partners to reconstruct Gaza both physically and ideologically.

The ideological part is more important than structural rebuilding of Gaza. The Gaza Strip was being controlled by a radical and authoritarian ideology that led to its physical destruction.

A new Gaza cannot be put into the hands of those who refuse to forge a rational peaceful future for its people based on an active desire to live in peace and partnership alongside Israel.

Why the Palestinian Authority (PA) can have no part to play in formulating a new Gaza

The corrupt Fatah-PLO leadership in Ramallah follows the same playbook as Hamas in indoctrinating its young into a mindset of antisemitism and the concept of a Palestine replacement of Israel.

The reason the authoritarian PA will not hold elections is that internal polls show that Palestinians would vote Hamas into power. Knowing this and to appease their people, Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah adopted their pernicious “pay-to-slay” policy, incentivizing Palestinians to kill Jews. Palestinians affiliated with Hamas are included in their reward system.

It is unacceptable for Israel to have this imposed on Gaza by myopic two-state peacemakers who blindly try to kosher Ramallah. It is suggested that Israel should control Gaza – but who is going to rebuild it? I doubt that hard-working Israelis are willing to foot the bill, and no international partners seem willing to participate if Israel takes permanent charge of Gaza.

Some see Gaza as an integral part of ancient Israel, but surely they are eyeless in Gaza as in the legend of a blinded Samson. And I don’t want to see my grandchildren patrolling the streets of Gaza with more than two million Arabs and just a few thousand Jews.

There are some who propose easing Gaza into a Jewish majority by offering Gazan families humanitarian repatriation of $250,000 and free flights to whichever destination they prefer. These dreamers have yet to tell me who is going to donate billions of dollars needed to fund this hallucination.

The best solution for Gaza is my concept of a new Gaza to be constructed as an Abraham Accords protectorate. It was unlikely that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman would take the courageous initiative to join Israel in a Gaza venture – until Donald Trump was re-elected. Now all options are on the table.

Trump the peacemaker will be keen to extend his successful Abraham Accords initiative by bringing Saudi Arabia into the fold – and what better way for this to be put to the test that in rebuilding Gaza? It is in Saudi Arabia’s interest to actively pull Gaza away from Iranian influence and do so in partnership with others under the protection of the United States.

Gaza is the model for a new Middle East – a partnership of genuine cooperation in the form of an Abraham Accords protectorate. The status of protectorates is recognized under international law, and the specific relationship between the “protectorate” and the “protector” is well known. As a political and governing system, the concept of protectorates has been successful and is working well in the international arena. In Gaza, the “protectors” will be the Abraham Accords countries, with the important active addition of Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

The reconstruction will build a new society not based on radicalism but on the moderate form of Islam represented by Saudi Arabia, under the Crown Prince, the UAE, and Bahrain. They will not only build the new mosques and madrassahs [Islamic religious schools]. They will employ the imams and religious teachers introducing their brand of Islam, which includes recognition of Israel.

When Israel was developing Gaza, a grand plan was proposed for an offshore airport, marina, and seaport with a connecting road and rail bridge to the mainland. This project was introduced by Israel Katz, the current defense minister. Formerly, Katz served as foreign and transportation minister. Gaza is ideally located to be the Cote d’Azur of the Middle East bordering on Israel, Egypt, and the Mediterranean, making it a potential geographic pivot for Gaza-based tourist travel into Egypt and Israel.

The protectorate concept will nurture Gaza into becoming an independent state, with its citizens receiving Gazan identity and passports, eventually being introduced as a new member of the United Nations sponsored by its Abraham Accords protectors■

The writer is a senior associate for public diplomacy at the Israeli Institute for Strategic Studies.