Phase Two

The world looks like quite a mess, at least for now. President Trump seems determined to put it all back in order as he approaches his 80th birthday this coming June.

Some of his moves appear to be aggressive when compared to the way other presidents have handled their foreign and domestic policies in the last century. It’s abundantly clear that up to now, our elected officials and Congressional oversight committees have been asleep at the wheel while billions of dollars have been quietly siphoned off in the years prior to Trump’s presidency.

Recent presidents like Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden came into office as public servants with meager wealth, only to leave office worth at least tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars. An outcome like that should be assigned a different name other than “public service.”

It is now abundantly clear that the victims of all that government largesse being passed around are none other than the American people. And then there’s the story in Minnesota of large-scale fraud and corruption, with the main player being the congresswoman with the deceptive head covering, Ilhan Omar, who has amassed a fortune of $30 million on a salary of $179,000 annually while using her seat in Congress to siphon off close to $9 billion in fraudulent government programs, including the infamous Feeding Our Future scandal, a scheme that sponsored federal meals for children.

Of course, as a way to distract from the wanton thievery, Omar made it her business and that of her other deceptive colleagues in The Squad to attack Israel for genocide in Gaza while some Somalis were quietly stealing over $10 billion from the U.S.

At the same time, to distract further from the flagrant grand larceny in Minnesota, they were doing everything they could to make the world look away while some Somalis in Minnesota were wiring billions of dollars to Somalia, and while Omar and company were shrilly protesting about Gaza, and Minnesotans were harassing ICE agents.

And then there’s Phase 2, the next step of the Gaza peace plan, which Trump is eager to reach. At the same time, it is vital that we are cognizant about the opportunity here, which is a lack of any focus on Gaza, genocide, occupation, two states, three states, or perhaps even more.

Bibi Netanyahu knows it and I just hope that Mr. Trump, Secretary Rubio, Secretary Hegseth, Ambassador Huckabee, and others involved in the Israel and Gaza rebuilding process communicate this reality to Israel. And that is, during these next few weeks, Israel can do as they please in Gaza to fortify the area and protect themselves from the monstrous terrorists who are still very much active and present.

During the past few weeks, there has been no room for Israel in the news. Specifically, not on CNN or the front page of The New York Times. It’s all about Minnesota and Somali fraud and the theft of over $10 billion by the Somalis in Minnesota, a sum greater than the annual GDP of that country.

For U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and company to begin implementing Phase 2 of the 20-point Gaza deal requires first and foremost that Phase 1 be completed. We’re not there yet. But Mr. Trump is anxious to move ahead. Yet, Phase 2 demands that if Hamas is still in Gaza, that they be completely disarmed. It also identifies the countries that will move security forces into Gaza to protect Israel from the terrorists and also protect the terrorists from other terror merchants.

While we’re trying to get to Phase 2 and Israel is out of the news, there’s also the matter of Iran, Greenland, the Kurds facing off against Syria, and the U.S. trying to keep the Russians and Ukrainians from killing each other, and so on.

Essentially, with regard to the future of Gaza, part of the next step will be to assign roles to as many as 60 countries in the reconstruction and redevelopment of the current mess that is Gaza today. While the objective on the surface is to rebuild Gaza and try to restore some semblance of civilization, the primary focus will be to protect Israel from the radical Islamists that operate there.

After two years of Palestinian savagery in Gaza, it looks like this is a good idea going forward; unfortunately, that might only be for a while. That is, as long as Donald Trump is President. The alleged so-called brains behind this Gaza plan is Trump confidant, Steve Witkoff, and Trump son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

According to Witkoff, the estimated cost to rebuild Gaza is in the tens of billions of dollars and can take anywhere from 10-15 years to complete. From Israel’s perspective, the first step is to build a one-mile gap or buffer zone between the population of Gaza and southern Israel.

Secondly, they will have to build a high stone wall (unlike the flimsy chain link fence the Hamas terrorists smashed through on October 7) that will be impenetrable and bordering the demilitarized and depopulated no-go buffer zone between Israel and Gaza.

A great deal of all this will take place in the distant future, most likely after Trump leaves office, which is problematic. The billions of dollars to rebuild Gaza will supposedly come from countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, two of the wealthiest Gulf states.

At the same time, the plan is to embed security forces in Gaza from a variety of countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which presents a variety of problems. Other countries that are vehemently anti-Israel that are planning to take part in the Gaza security forces are Turkey, England, France, and India. Prime Minister Netanyahu has made it clear to Mr. Trump that Turkey, Pakistan, and France cannot be a part of any Gaza security arrangements. Trump says that he likes and trusts Erdogan of Turkey. Bibi disagrees.

According to Trump’s 20-point plan, the idea is to allow those residents of Gaza who are currently living in poverty and rubble to be given the opportunity of moving to another country where they can rebuild normal lives for their families. It’s estimated that as many as 50% of the population of Gaza is willing to exit and relocate elsewhere. There are a number of countries willing to take in large numbers of Gazan residents, including, reportedly, Ukraine.

One of the preliminary and most problematic issues has to do with the disbanding and destruction of the terrorist murderers of Hamas. If the plan is to take these vicious killers and give them police uniforms and handguns and rename them “Gaza security forces,” hopefully that failed lesson was learned in Oslo, which resulted in the murder of thousands of Jews by those security forces/terrorists.

Hamas leadership and even the rank-and-file members must be expelled from Gaza and moved elsewhere. In fact, anywhere but Gaza and Israel will do.

The Trump plan is a good one, but how it plays out after Trump leaves office is anyone’s guess. Can we count on JD Vance to carry the plan forward? Not so long as he is connected in any way to a hater like Tucker Carlson.

According to Trump, Witkoff, and Kushner, the future of Gaza must include assurances and agreements regarding Israel’s future safety. The Jewish state has suffered too much for too long and has lost too many to accept anything less.

My dream is that Secretary of State Marco Rubio steps down from his position after the midterm elections and announces his candidacy for the Republican nomination in 2028. The presidency does not belong to Vance as far as Israel and our support are concerned—he has to earn it. He’s not there yet. Marco Rubio is a friend of Israel on the level of Donald Trump. Right now, it looks like Steve Witkoff is for Vance and Kushner is a Rubio man.

The race has not yet begun. It will pretty soon.

Read more of Larry Gordon’s articles at 5TJT.com. Follow 5 Towns Jewish Times on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for updates and live videos. Comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome at 5TJT.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.