Avi Abelow heads PulseofIsrael.com/IsraelUnwired.com, Inspiring People about the Jewish People and the Land of Israel.
Trump’s Gaza deal is now official — and let's be clear: this is a terrible deal.
Yes, I understand why some people are calling it “the best deal Israel can get right now,” and why Prime Minister Netanyahu felt pressured to agree.
But do not be fooled: this so-called diplomatic breakthrough, brokered by President Trump and agreed to by Qatar and several Arab regimes, is a ticking time bomb for Israel, America, and the free world.
Even if this is another layer of “4D chess”, like the psychological games Trump and Netanyahu played before the Iran strike, this deal still fundamentally empowers our enemies, rewards terror, and legitimizes the very ideologies that brought about the October 7th massacre.
Let’s not sugarcoat reality.
Even if Hamas rejects the terms, the mere fact that many of its terms are even on the table projects weakness. It elevates Islamic jihad terrorist actors as legitimate players. It sends the message that with enough bloodshed and enough hostages, evil wins a seat at the table. This is a diplomatic abomination.
The Trump Administration’s Blind Spot
Let’s face a painful truth: even the Trump administration, strong on Israel in many ways, made a critical strategic mistake by whitewashing the role of Qatar, and failing to confront the global threat of Islamic Jihad ideology.
Qatar isn’t just a Gulf state. Qatar is Hamas. Hamas is Qatar. It is the ATM of terror, the patron of Hamas, and the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, the ideological factory of modern jihadism. That Qatar, complicit in the October 7th massacre, is being treated as a potential partner for Israel is nothing short of grotesque.
And Trump demanding that Netanyahu apologize to Qatar, without Qatar apologizing for its direct role in the Oct. 7th massacre and mass rape of Jews, is a moral stain and a strategic blunder. It may go down as one of the most dangerous concessions of his administration, because it reinforces a false narrative: that we can negotiate with jihadists, and come out safe.
A Deal That Legitimizes the Next Round of Terror
This agreement ignores the core causes of the conflict: the 1,400+ year theological, political, and cultural indoctrination that teaches generations of Arab Muslims that Israel must be destroyed. That indoctrination doesn’t go away with a ceasefire or a Trump “deal”. It is reinforced by it.
UN-funded schools, from Gaza to Samaria to Jerusalem, continue to churn out young minds soaked in genocidal hatred, funded by Western governments. This deal does nothing to confront that machinery of terror.
It simply repackages the problem in more palatable language.
Giving “regional Arab states” a foothold in Gaza may sound like progress. But when those states, like Qatar, Turkey, Egypt, are themselves tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, it’s a bait-and-switch. We’re not replacing jihadists who want Israel destroyed. We’re rotating them.
And the idea that the Palestinian Authority, steeped in corruption, terror-support, and the same genocidal education system, could be a “partner,” if changes are implemented, is a dangerous fantasy. One that even Netanyahu knows is false. Even if that is just a bond to throw Saudi Arabia, it is a mistake that keeps the genocidal dream of destroying Israel alive.
The Only Path Forward: Hamas Surrender and Jewish Return to Gaza
Let’s be blunt: the only deal worth discussing is one in which Hamas surrenders unconditionally, all hostages are released, and Trump's Gaza emigration plan is implemented. Anything else is theatre, deadly theatre, that kicks the can down the road, again.
We are not in a diplomatic crisis. We are in a moral war, a war the West, and Trump administration continue to remain oblivious on how to beat it.
And that war has only one outcome: the total defeat of jihadism by the West, with the Israel restoring Jewish sovereignty over Gaza, together with the removal of all those in our countries with the genocidal ideology that seeks to destroy us. Not just throughout Israel including Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, but from America, Britain, France, Germany, Canada etc.
Without their actual physical removal, the Western nations are doomed to self-destruct and fall to Sharia law.
So Why Did Netanyahu Agree? Strategic Realities
As bad as the deal is, I understand Netanyahu’s reasoning. He’s playing chess while surrounded by vultures. And as flawed as he is, he remains the only realistic Prime Minister of Israel capable of holding the line. Any of his political rivals on the center-left would have fully capitulated and left Israel in a horrible position. That’s not praise, it’s just cold fact.
Let’s unpack his strategic calculations:
1. The Deal Meets Israel’s Core Stated War Demands — In Theory
- Return of all hostages
- A demilitarized Gaza
- No Hamas in control
- No PA involvement
- No Palestinian state
If these were enforced, the deal aligns with Israeli red lines. But enforcement is a massive “if,” especially when the same bad actors are still in the game.
2. Neutralizing Domestic Political Threats
The hostage issue was weaponized from the beginning, not to save lives, but to topple the Netanyahu government. By making a deal, with global support, to save all the remaining hostages in Gaza, Netanyahu has neutralized the destructive protest movement in the name of the “hostages”. He has stabilized internal politics and rebuilds short-term unity to move Israel forward.
3. Hamas Is Boxed In, For Now
Trump succeeded in getting buyin from the Arab world, that, for the moment, is putting pressure on Hamas.
If Hamas accepts the deal, they’re eliminated. If they reject it, they’re isolated. Either way, Netanyahu forces a lose-lose on Hamas, temporarily.
As Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey are not our friends. Their ideology is the same. Today Hamas is isolated. Tomorrow, or years down the road, the terror will just be rebranded.
4. Buying Time Before a Larger War
With war on the horizon against the Islamic Republic of Iran and Hezbollah again in Lebanon, Netanyahu and Trump both want the Gaza front dialed down. That makes sense tactically. But buying time without solving the root problem only guarantees a continuation of the war later.
The Long-Term Problem: The War of Civilizations
This isn’t a border conflict. This is a civilizational clash.
Islamic jihad is not new. It is a 1,400-year-old war of conquest, and Hamas, the PA, Hezbollah, and even Qatar, Turkey, Egypt, Itan, Syria etc. are all soldiers in that war.
The West refuses to name it. Worse, it funds it.
No ceasefire, no agreement, no “Gaza under Arab control” solution will solve a war rooted in the idea that Jews don’t deserve to live, not in Tel Aviv, not in Hebron, not in Gaza.
The Silver Lining? Netanyahu’s Historic Shift in Rhetoric
At his UN speech, Netanyahu crushed the Oslo paradigm in words, which is historic for him. He made the following things clear:
- 90% of Arabs in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza supported the October 7th massacre.
- The PA is indistinguishable from Hamas.
- There will be no Palestinian state.
This is new language for Netanyahu, and it’s huge, even though many of us wish he had spoken like this since he first took office in 1996. For the first time, Netanyahu is leading a diplomatic line to destroy the Oslo paradigm publicly.
If this deal is a stepping stone in that direction, it’s good, but we are still in dangerous territory.
But it definitely signals the start of a deeper strategic pivot.
Bottom Line: A Horrible Deal, But a positive Strategic Shift
This deal fails to address the core evil we face.
It appeases jihadists and reinforces the cycle of temporary calm followed by bloodshed.
It ignores the religious and ideological root of the conflict.
But perhaps, just perhaps, it also marks the beginning of the end of illusions.
If so, it’s our job to keep pushing, unapologetically, for the only solution that will bring real peace:
Gaza must be made Jewish again, with full Israeli sovereignty. And not just Gaza. Judea. Samaria. And all lands that they attack us from that we liberate, including our tribal lands of Dan, Naftali and Menashe, today known as Southern Lebanon and Southern Syria. Only land conquest and removal of all those who support killing us non-infidels is the way to beat back the Islamic jihad.
The enemies of Israel, and the freedom loving world, must be defeated, not bargained with.
And the Islamic jihad must be confronted head-on, not whitewashed.
Stay strong. Strengthen your faith in Hashem, these are Geulah times. Do not be discouraged by developments, be encouraged. The hour of truth is coming, and we must meet it with courage, clarity, and uncompromising strength and emunah.
Am Yisrael Chai.