Email from Zionist Organization of America   ZIONIST ORGANIZATION OF AMERICA IN THE MEDIA   New York Times Quotes ZOA’s Mort Klein Praising Trump’s Gaza Plan       With Gaza Plan, an Unbound Trump Pushes an Improbable Idea Mort Klein said Pres. Trump's announcement “is an extraordinary declaration that could assure the end of the Islamic-Arab terrorist group Hamas, and secure southern Israel after decades of terrorist attacks and missile launches from Hamas in Gaza. It will also be a major step towards a real peace in the region.” By Peter Baker (February 5, 2025 / NYT) Once a critic of nation building, the president now envisions taking over a Middle East enclave, driving out its Palestinian population and transforming it into “the Riviera of the Middle East.” President Trump basked as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel praised his “willingness to think outside the box.” But when it came to Gaza, Mr. Trump’s thinking on Tuesday was so far outside the box that it was not clear he even knew there was a box. Mr. Trump’s announcement that he intends to seize control of Gaza, displace the Palestinian population and turn the coastal enclave into “the Riviera of the Middle East” was the kind of thing he might have said to get a rise on “The Howard Stern Show” a decade or two ago. Provocative, intriguing, outlandish, outrageous — and not at all presidential. But now in his sequel term in the White House, Mr. Trump is advancing ever-more brazen ideas about redrawing the map of the world in the tradition of 19th-century imperialism. First there was buying Greenland, then annexing Canada, reclaiming the Panama Canal and renaming the Gulf of Mexico. And now he envisions taking over a devastated war zone in the Middle East that no other American president would want. Never mind that he could name no legal authority that would permit the United States to unilaterally assert control over someone else’s territory or that the forcible removal of an entire population would be a violation of international law. Never mind that resettling 2 million Palestinians would be a gargantuan logistical and financial challenge, not to mention politically explosive. Never mind that it would surely require many thousands of U.S. troops and possibly trigger more violent conflict. Mr. Trump’s idea would be the most expansive commitment of American might and treasure in the Middle East since the invasion and reconstruction of Iraq two decades ago. And it would be a jaw-dropping reversal for a president who first ran for office in 2016 decrying nation-building and vowing to extract the United States out of the Middle East. (...)  By the afternoon, as he signed some executive orders, Mr. Trump told reporters that Palestinians would have “no alternative” but to move out of Gaza because it was just “a demolition site.” A little later, he welcomed Mr. Netanyahu to the Oval Office and went even further, saying he wanted “all of them” to leave and that Gazans should “be thrilled” to live someplace better that he expected Egypt and Jordan to provide. Then at a formal news conference with Mr. Netanyahu in the East Room on Tuesday evening, he took it the final step, declaring not just that Palestinians should leave but that “the U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip” and rebuild it into a prosperous economic destination. This was not a temporary takeover, but “a long-term ownership position” and he made clear that he had no intention of turning Gaza back over to the Palestinians but would make it a place “not for a specific group of people but for everybody.” (...) Mort Klein, national president of the Zionist Organization of America, said in a statement that Mr. Trump’s announcement “is an extraordinary declaration that could assure the end of the Islamic-Arab terrorist group Hamas, and secure southern Israel after decades of terrorist attacks and missile launches from Hamas in Gaza. It will also be a major step towards a real peace in the region.” CONTINUE READING The New York Times is one of the most widely read daily newspapers the world reaching a readership of over 400,239,663 (print + online). This article was originally published in the New York Times and can be viewed here.   Share This Email Share This Email   DONATE     Copyright © Zionist Organization of America 2025, All rights reserved. Zionist Organization of America | 633 Third Ave 31 B | New York, NY 10017 US Unsubscribe | Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice