Donald Trump's plan for Gaza looks a bit like his plan for Ukraine
Imperialists rule
The irony overwhelms: “The former president [Donald Trump] has long called for Israel to quickly secure a victory over Hamas, arguing that Israel has a public relations problem that gets worse the longer the war sparked by Hamas’s October 7 onslaught goes on. The assertion that the ‘killing has to stop’ appeared to be the closest Trump has come to more directly criticizing Israel’s prosecution of the war in Gaza.”[1] Think of all the public relations problems Trump has.
“‘From the start, [Kamala] Harris has worked to tie Israel’s hand behind its back, demanding an immediate ceasefire, always demanding ceasefire,’ Trump said at the [‘anti-Semitism’] event just a few hours after his press conference, adding that it ‘would only give Hamas time to regroup and launch a new October 7 style attack.’” It’s certainly attention-grabbing that his plan for Ukraine, believed to entail significant territorial concessions,[2] and thus resembling Cornel West’s,[3] fails to account for this concern about Vladimir Putin, who first grabbed Crimea in 2014, then came back for more,[4] has previously invaded a portion of Georgia,[5] and today threatens Moldova.[6] Binyamin Netanyahu’s ambitions and methods in the Middle East are similar enough to Putin’s in Europe that they should be treated the same.
Trump, in effect, does this, perversely: “I will give Israel the support that it needs to win but I do want them to win fast.”[7]
[1] Jacob Magid, “Trump: I told Netanyahu ‘get your victory quickly’ because ‘the killing has to stop,’” Times of Israel, August 16, 2024, https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-i-told-netanyahu-get-your-victory-quickly-because-the-killing-has-to-stop/
[2] Isaac Arnsdorf, Josh Dawsey, and Michael Birnbaum, “Inside Donald Trump’s secret, long-shot plan to end the war in Ukraine,” Washington Post, April 7, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/05/trump-ukraine-secret-plan/
[3] Democracy Now! “Cornel West on Running for President, Ending Ukraine War & Taking on “Corporate Duopoly” of Dems & GOP,” June 7, 2023, https://www.democracynow.org/2023/6/7/cornel_west_2024
[4] Jacob Magid, “Trump: I told Netanyahu ‘get your victory quickly’ because ‘the killing has to stop,’” Times of Israel, August 16, 2024, https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-i-told-netanyahu-get-your-victory-quickly-because-the-killing-has-to-stop/
[5] Isabella Higgins, “Invading Georgia gave Vladimir Putin a rush of confidence to invade Ukraine. Now Georgians are dealing with his escapees,” Australian Broadcasting Corporation, November 26, 2022, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-27/wests-response-to-war-in-georgia-emboldened-putin/101677678
[6] Rob Picheta, “Why Moldova fears it could be next for Putin,” Cable News Network, February 26, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/26/europe/moldova-transnistria-russia-tensions-explainer-intl/index.html
[7] Jacob Magid, “Trump: I told Netanyahu ‘get your victory quickly’ because ‘the killing has to stop,’” Times of Israel, August 16, 2024, https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-i-told-netanyahu-get-your-victory-quickly-because-the-killing-has-to-stop/