What Did Bibi Really Get From Trump? His Political Death Certificate

Public Praise Masks a Much Darker Reality for Netanyahu

Dec. 31—The Butcher of Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu is now in Miami, preparing to meet with fawning Evangelical Christians at a New Year’s service, after appearing to get all that he could hope for from President Donald Trump in a Dec. 29 meeting at the President’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

Standing outside with the President, Bibi heard Trump praise him as Israel’s greatest wartime leader, without whom “Israel would not exist.” He heard Trump echo Netanyahu’s demands that Hamas disarm “soon,” or they would forcibly have their weapons taken away, and he heard the President imply that he would stand with Bibi and take out Iran’s capabilities when and if either a nuclear or new missile threat materialized. He even got something completely unexpected—the announcement by Trump that he had spoken with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and that a “pardon was on its way” for the Prime Minister on corruption charges for which he is standing trial and for which it is expected he will be convicted and face jail sentences.

Were appearances all that mattered, then Bibi would have every reason to celebrate. But in the world of Donald Trump, actions speak louder than words, and as sources report, the actions that Trump is likely to take in the weeks ahead will make it very difficult for Bibi and his collection of religious fanatic lunatics that are called “his government” to survive. And as for the pardon, Herzog was quick to deny that he had even spoken with Trump or his representatives recently; Herzog, reflecting standing judicial practice, has said that a pardon can only come either after conviction or an admission of guilt, which Bibi has refused to do. Netanyahu, asked in an interview about the pardon, said he had no knowledge of the conversations between the two Presidents, but that he knows that Trump “cuts to the chase and he knows that the charges against me are ridiculous.”

Phase Two of the Peace Plan Moves Forward—With or Without Bibi

Sources report that Trump, in the days and weeks ahead, intends to go ahead with the second phase of his Peace Plan, which includes the establishment of an international security force to patrol the ceasefire, as well as an interim technocratic Palestinian government, and the beginning of the multi-hundred-billion Gaza reconstruction program, all of which is to be overseen by a Board of Peace, which Trump will head, and whose composition is as of yet unknown, except that it will not contain international loudmouth former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose name was pulled following protest from Trump’s Arab partners that Blair had helped initiate the present problems in the region in starting the war with Iraq in 2003–4 on fake evidence he and British intelligence cooked up against then-Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Commentator Jonathan Lis writes in Haaretz today: “Trump himself preferred to keep the points of disagreement with Netanyahu in the background, not relating to them in answering questions from the Israeli media. Among other things, he did not say publicly whether he would order the transition to phase two in the coming weeks, even if the body of Ran Gvili isn’t returned. Sources said that U.S. officials don’t believe there are good chances of finding the remains of Gvili, therefore, Trump doesn’t believe it should be an obstacle to moving forward.”

Bibi, aware that something is afoot on these matters, lied that he also supported moving ahead to phase two, but not until Hamas is disarmed. Sources close to the White House say that Trump intends to proceed without first disarming Hamas, and in fact will allow Hamas leaders who renounce violence and help in the disarmament to be part of a new Gazan government, as part of the Palestinian Authority. Haaretz reports that sources close to the Prime Minister also reported this.

This must stick in Bibi’s craw, said a source, since “Bibi had created Hamas, helped fund and arm it, as a roadblock to the PA control of Gaza. If Trump does this, then it marks the whole bloody policy of Bibi as a total failure. He cannot recover from that.”

Reconstruction, Turkey’s Role, and Settler Violence Put Bibi in a Corner

This and other sources say Trump also intends to start the reconstruction of Gaza soon, most likely in the leveled area of Rafah in the south, which will involve building new housing and infrastructure, and new business and employment possibilities for Palestinians, in which the Turks and Egyptians would be involved in plans. Bibi does not want Turkey, whose leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denounced Netanyahu for genocide, involved in anything. But Trump, not the Israelis, is in charge of this, as well as the ISF, where Turkey will also be involved, if Trump wants it.

In his meetings with Bibi, but not in the lights of the press conference afterward, Trump demanded a halt to what he believes is government-sponsored settler violence against Palestinians on the West Bank, as well as an end to all talk about annexation, whether de facto or actual, of the West Bank and the imposition of Israeli settlements in northern Gaza coming from the foul mouths of his two most lunatic ministers, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

In an interview with Fox News, Netanyahu attempted to defy the images on the world’s cell phones and television screens, claiming that the violence was perpetrated by “a handful of kids, about seventy kids, not from the West Bank, teens who come from broken homes. They do things like chop down trees, and sometimes they try to burn a home.” His comments came one day after Trump at the press conference stated that he expects Netanyahu to “do the right thing” when it comes to the West Bank.

On Iran, Trump never said that he agreed to strike Iran now, only when they do the things Bibi claims, but which Trump believes they are not doing. Instead, Trump intends to reach a nuclear deal with Tehran, which will include broader areas of potential regional cooperation on development and infrastructure projects—something that Netanyahu says he will never support, since he believes any deal is a cover to allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons.

Trump’s Peace Plan and Bibi’s Agenda Cannot Coexist

If Trump goes ahead with even some of these things, said a source, “I don’t see how Bibi survives politically. The government will collapse and there will be early elections, which right now he will lose. Trump has to know this, yet he intends to move forward with his peace plan.”

This and other sources say that the Trump team has already come to the conclusion that Trump’s plans for the region and Bibi’s are in ultimate conflict. Trump is not changing his plans, so who wins this battle? In this context, his praise for Bibi and his statements of backing his efforts to maintain the ceasefire become the kiss of death. Trump is already looking toward a post-Bibi universe, which is uncharted waters for Israel, the region, and the United States.