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The Lessons of Trump's Gaza Peace Deal
(Wall Street Journal) Editorial - Will Israel's releasing 250 terrorists serving life sentences and 1,700 Gazans detained during the war, seed the next attack, as a 2011 hostage deal seeded Oct. 7, 2023, by freeing its mastermind? The answer depends on Israel's ability to enforce the latter phases of the deal. If the new Gulf Arab-led stabilization force to be deployed in Gaza fails to disarm Hamas and demilitarize the strip, Israeli troops will be in position to do so themselves with what Trump calls "full backing." How did this peace arrive? The dubious theory of Israel's critics is that Trump finally squeezed Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. This wishcasting gets the story backward: Trump's consistent support for Israel achieved what all of Joe Biden's pressure on and threats to Israel didn't. Trump was able to push past some of Netanyahu's concerns about postwar Gaza governance because he had earned Israel's trust. Netanyahu deserves credit for withstanding U.S. pressure to end the war earlier and in a weaker position: before Israel took Rafah, knocked Hizbullah out of the fight in Lebanon, and smashed the Iranian nuclear program. These victories left Israel in a position of military dominance and Hamas without Iran's proxy allies.