Hamas’s genocidal October 7^th savagery forced many Israelis and lovers of the Jewish state to conclude that Gaza was the test of a Palestinian state—and it failed horribly. Some few who held out hope for the Palestinians were finally convinced when emaciated, hollow-faced Israeli hostages recently stumbled from captivity resembling Holocaust survivors.

But the final death knell for the Palestinian project was delivered last week with news of Hamas’s murders—with bare hands—of the two red-headed Bibas children and their mother. The barbarity is unspeakable.

Thus, any credibility for last year’s savage attack on Israeli citizens as an act of Hamas “resistance” has crumbled. Nearly all Jewish Israelis—joined by most Americans—agree the Islamist death-cult perpetrators of the brutal murders and kidnappings must be eliminated.

Meanwhile, Arab states like Egypt, Jordan, UAE and Saudi Arabia are scrambling to get ahead of President Trump’s demand that Gazans be allowed to emigrate to neighboring nations in the region.

How will the Arab nations reconcile their 75-year commitment to the Palestinians’ mission of destroying the Jewish state . .  . faced with sudden, massive pressure by Israel and the U.S. to adopt a new paradigm? As Israel crushes Hamas and the Palestinian Authority fades further into irrelevance, the Palestinian national project seems doomed.

With the Gaza war’s “day after” drawing closer, the region’s key players face momentous questions. How will millions of homeless Gazans survive in the devastated territory? Who will govern them? Most important, who will rebuild Gaza—if at all? Surely, few nations will be willing to throw billions more at the enclave as long as terrorists threaten more wars. Trump’s solution of allowing destitute, demoralized Palestinians to disperse looks more attractive by the day.

Hamas destroyed any hope for a Palestinian state. When Israel left Gaza in 2005, not a single Israeli remained. Israel turned over the Strip with no restrictions on the Palestinian Authority (PA). This was the chance for Palestinians to form their autonomous state—to liberate themselves from Israeli control.

Unfortunately, Palestinians soon elected Hamas to power, and the Islamist dictatorship in 2007 quickly seized Gaza from the PA. Instead of building a society in which Palestinians could prosper, they began violently pursuing the Arab Palestinians’ primary project since 1947—destroying their neighbor, Israel.

Israel’s victory, Trump’s proposal and the Bibas’ murders transformed the “conflict.” Israel’s decimation of Hamas creates an opportunity to reconstruct Gaza without terrorists coopting the rebuild. Trump’s proposal to “clear” Gaza of Gazans changed the entire paradigm, saying what most Israelis never dared: The bad guys must go. We can no longer live with people next door who want to kill us.

Finally, the horror of seeing throngs of Gazans gleefully cheering the coffins of the Bibas children—and learning that the boys had been killed by bare hands—ended any vestiges of sympathy for Palestinian “self-determination.” We understand now: First and foremost, their hate for us is savage and bestial. The raucous coffin scene in Gaza represented the definitive, dramatic end to Palestinianism. No longer will Israelis—and most Jews—tolerate the savage raison d’etre that has dominated Palestinian society for 75 years. The Palestinians must understand unequivocally: Israel will not be defeated. The Jews will not be expelled. The Palestinian project is over.

It’s time to free the Palestinians—from confinement in “Palestine” and its jihadi nightmare. Trump’s plan allows Palestinians to do what millions of other refugees have done—relocate and build better lives elsewhere, thus canceling their perpetual refugee status. The relocation of Gazans will also mean Hamas can no longer exploit them as human shields.

While Arab leaders initially objected strenuously to Trump’s plan, they realize their argument for Palestinian “liberation” or even for “two states” is suddenly passé. Thanks to America’s financial, military and political leverage as wielded by Mr. Trump, they will be forced to acknowledge that the Palestinian project is dead. The Reuters headline captures the desperation: “Saudi Arabia spearheads Arab scramble for alternative to Trump’s Gaza plan.”

Arab countries’ huge land mass and populations could easily absorb several million Palestinians. Until now, Arab states refused to host the Palestinians for two reasons: First, the Palestinians have historically caused trouble wherever they landed—Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait. Second, keeping Palestinians boxed in, fighting Israel, provides a useful distraction from Arab nations’ own problems. No wonder the Saudis demand a Palestinian state as an impossible prerequisite for normalization. Mr. Trump’s demand renders this formula moot.

Especially with strong American support, Israel need no longer tolerate a jihad in either neighboring territory occupied by Palestinians. Those who cannot find a new home in welcoming Arab (or European?) lands will have to choose: Either lay down arms and abandon Palestinianism or continue fighting futilely against Israel to the death, which will come sooner and fiercer than ever before.

The Palestinian territories must be disarmed—and the jihad disabled. There will be no peace so long as Hamas and terrorist allies stay armed. Elements of the jihad must be disabled, especially UNRWA, which not only perpetuates the Palestinian refugee “crisis” and makes Palestinians dependent on foreign aid, but also teaches jihad in Palestinian schools and allows Hamas to use its assets to hide terrorist infrastructure.

Palestinians who remain—and commit to peace—should be supported economically and politically. Palestinians who agree to live beside the Jewish state in peace; who agree to lay down arms and stop the jihad; and who agree that they have no “right of return” into Israel, should be allowed to remain in Gaza. Those who seek peace should be welcomed to partake in rebuilding the coastal enclave, just as Germans who renounced Nazism participated in the post-war rebuilding of their country.

End of the line for Palestinianism. The genocidal Palestinian project, supported by radical leftists and antisemites worldwide, is dead. Israel will no longer tolerate living next to people whose goal is to exterminate it, nor will it commit suicide by allowing a jihadi state to exist alongside it.

Please make the point when speaking with family, friends, colleagues—or in letters to the editor—that only Palestinians who agree to live in peace with the Jewish State of Israel will find comfort in a future Gaza or Judea and Samaria. Talk of a Palestinian state or of jihad against Jews has lost all currency.

If you agree we need to spread this truth, please use your email browser to forward this Hotline issue to fellow lovers of Israel—and encourage them to join us by subscribing to the Hotline at no charge.

Best regards,
James Sinkinson, President
Facts and Logic About the Middle East (FLAME)

P.S.      Too often, American citizens take comfort in their insulation from Islamist violence roiling the Middle East, as well as cities in Europe. But the jihadists are clear that fighting Jews and Israel is just the beginning. At rallies in Iran—and increasingly in the U.S.—the crowds scream, “Death to Israel, Death to America.” They understand that Israel is just the tip of the spear of Western Civilization—because Israel was the birthplace of so many Western values. Today the Jewish state stands as one of the strongest democracies in the world—a defender of liberty and enemy of oppressive Middle East dictatorships and terrorism. I hope you’ll agree that we supporters of the Israel-U.S. relationship need to speak out. FLAME’s new hasbarah—explanatory message—“Israel’s War Is America’s War”—describes how Israel massively defends United States interests in the Middle East and how Israel represents a roadblock to Islamic expansion worldwide. Finally, it explains why the recent U.S. foreign policy of soft diplomacy and appeasement of Iran has failed consistently. Please review this convincing, fact-based editorial, which FLAME intends to publish to millions—in leading social media, as well as in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Tampa Bay Times, Denver Post and Los Angeles Times. This piece will also be sent to all members of Congress, the President and Vice President. If you agree that this kind of public relations effort on Israel’s behalf is critical, I urge you to support us with a donation.

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