Yossi Schwartz ISL (RCIT section in Israel/Occupied Palestine), 04.02.2025
Today, Netanyahu is going to visit unpredictable Trump, who has claimed credit for sealing the ceasefire deal after 15 months of war; Netanyahu hopes to get the approval of Trump to continue the war, the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians in Gaza and in the West-Bank, to attack together Iran
In a survey published ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with Trump in Washington, It was found that approximately eight out of 10 Jewish Israelis support Trump’s suggestion that “Arabs from Gaza should relocate to another country.” At the same time, most Arab Israelis oppose the proposal. According to the findings, 43% of all Israelis believe Trump’s plan is “practical” and should be pursued. In comparison, an additional 30% of Jewish Israelis responded that the plan is “not practical, but desirable,” meaning they support the idea but do not see it as realistically feasible. Less than 15% of Israelis believe Trump’s plan is “immoral,” including 54% of Arab respondents and only 3% of Jewish Israelis[i].
At the same time, before he met Trump on Monday, Netanyahu’s office said he would begin discussions with Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, over terms for the second stage of the Gaza truce. Before leaving Israel, Netanyahu told reporters he would discuss “victory over Hamas,” countering Iran and freeing all hostages when he meets Trump on Tuesday.
Trump said on Monday there were “no guarantees” that a fragile ceasefire in Gaza will hold. Two Hamas officials said the group was ready to begin talks on the details of a second stage, which could help secure a lasting cessation of the war of Israel on Gaza.
The next stage is expected to cover the release of the remaining captives and lead to a more permanent end to the war. Under the Gaza ceasefire’s agreement in the first stage lasting 42 days, Hamas is to release 33 hostages in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinians held in Israeli jails. Among them, more than 30 children.
It has also allowed displaced Gazans to return to the territory’s north, which Israel had blocked before. According to the UN humanitarian office OCHA, around 600.000 people have reached the north since the truce began.
Back in office, Trump lifted sanctions on Israeli settlers accused of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank and reportedly approved a shipment of one-ton bombs that the Biden administration had blocked.
Trump has also repeatedly stated that he plans to “clean out” Gaza, calling for Palestinians to move to neighboring countries such as Egypt or Jordan. Sisi and the king of Jordan oppose this plan as they are afraid that such a plan will bring about the feared uprisings of the Arab revolution.
It is difficult to believe this plan for other reasons as well. The Zionist army is tired, there is internal opposition to continue the war by the families of the Israeli war prisoners and the cost of the war is enormous. Not to speak of the fact that Hamas replaced its dead with new recruits.
A joint war against Iran is likely to remain the wet dream of Netanyahu. Trump, who wants to see a stable Middle East, will set the region on fire if he agrees to ethnic cleansing.
On Sunday, a Palestinian Authority official told news agency WAFA that the Zionist army “simultaneously detonated about 20 buildings” in the Jenin refugee camp.
On Monday, the Palestinian presidency hypocritically denounced the operation. In a statement, spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said the Palestinian presidency “condemned the occupation authorities’ expansion of their comprehensive war on our Palestinian people in the West Bank to implement their plans aimed at displacing citizens and ethnic cleansing.” As if the Palestinians in the West Bank do not remember that the PA tried to kill the fighters of the resistance in Jenin.
The centrists who believe that it is possible to get the Jewish workers these days to support the Palestinian struggle for self-determination should better learn from the last survey. Short of total defeat in a war or the Arab revolution, the Jewish workers will support the oppression of the Palestinians. They may not want to see the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians from the West Bank as they will be afraid they will be pushed to replace them as cheap labor but do not oppose the ethnic cleansing of the Gazans, who play a much smaller role in the Israeli economy.
Down with Trump and all the imperialists!
Down with the Zionist monster and its servant-the PA
For Palestine red and free from the river to the sea!
Endnotes:
[i] Jerusalem Post staff February 3, 2025