Dear friends,
After two years of unfathomable horror, the sounds of bombs and gunfire may finally give way to pained relief – and celebration by both Israelis and Palestinians. Many of us are figuring out what it means to feel hope again.
We’ve seen these deals collapse before, but this feels real.
President Trump seems determined, and I’m sure the acclaim he’ll receive will only increase his resolve to see this agreement through.
It was always going to take forceful American leadership to break this impasse. In the end, that’s what made the difference.
This is the power of the United States refusing to take no for an answer.
This deal was signed fast, but it also took far, far too long. How much sooner could it have ended?
Given his standing in Israel, Trump could have done this months ago. Allowing Netanyahu to blow up the ceasefire and cut off aid was inexcusable.
Could President Biden have done more? Those of us who served in his administration must grapple with that honestly.
This deal isn’t far from ideas many of us, both in and out of government, were discussing weeks after October 7 – or principles accepted by both sides just months into the war. It’s a framework J Street and our allies have long been pressing for.
If Biden had leveraged US power and his political capital in Israel, could he have stopped the war and gotten hostages home just months into the horror? We’ll never know.
I’m haunted by what a former senior IDF official told me after I left the White House: “Our initial plans for Gaza were to fight for three months and then stop. We assumed you – the Americans – would make us stop. But you never did.”
Now, Gaza lies in ruins. Tens of thousands dead. Over 100,000 injured. Hostages robbed of years of their lives; others killed in captivity or during rescue attempts. Over a million left homeless. Starvation and disease will continue to kill. Trauma will last generations.
We cannot bring anyone back, but we can fight like hell to make sure these horrors are never repeated. Too many have lost too much to go backwards now.
A plan is on the table: To stabilize Gaza. Empower a technocratic government. Reform the Palestinian Authority. To move toward what we call a “23-state solution.”
Whether this comes to pass – or whether it’s window dressing on another medium-term ceasefire – will depend on the resolve and determination of our leaders.
We are at an inflection point. “Conflict management” is dead. Netanyahu’s path of empowering Hamas while strangling the PA has failed horrifically. The US and Gulf states now understand there’s no regional stability without resolving this conflict.
Whether this moment becomes a true turning point will depend greatly on the strength of American leadership – and the pressure and focus all of us bring to bear.
Peace, after all, isn’t built by ink and signatures, but by people: Rebuilding lives. Demanding better. Choosing coexistence over vengeance.
Together, let’s recommit to that work. Now and in the difficult days ahead.
Yours in hope,
Ilan Goldenberg
Chief of Policy, J Street
