Trump could influence Peace in Israel and the Arab world, just as he could influence the Russia/Ukraine war. The problem is that he only cares about how he can bolster his appearance. He doesn't care about the people in these countries who take the fallout from continuous conflict, just like he does not care that he eliminated funding for weather reporting in the US, and is directly responsible for many deaths after flooding in Texas this weekend. Also, how many deaths during his first fiasco in the White House could have been avoided by actually acknowledging the danger of the COVID virus and following the guidelines for dealing with a pandemic set up by the Obama Presidency?
I don't know if I distrust Trump any less than Netanyahu to make a firm consistent and positive move toward ending the Gaza War and starts negotiations for a 2 state solution. The way I'm feeling these days, I can't hold any hope in the Middle East until our current "leaders" are gone. Thank you, Jeremy, for your continued effort to inform and keep the focus on the talks that need to be conducted. But at this point, at least for me, I believe prayer is all we have right now.
Agree with all of the proposed next steps but is interesting to wonder whether all of Israel’s successes on the periphery, which make this plausible, could have been accomplished had the war ended sooner.
* "Hezbollah has been effectively sidelined, and Lebanon has a chance to stabilize and re-establish a functioning government." MD: Both Israel and US media say this is the case, but I have my doubts, in that while Hezbollah's ability to act independently as an Iranian proxy has been sidelined due to the Lebanese government's insistence that it stop acting independently, and apparently by Iran's reluctance to play the H card, even during the brief Iran/Israel war, I think it still retains very significant missile attack capacity. It helps the peace forces to believe and convey what you are saying, but I just didn't see the full evidence Hezbollah has lost its ability to do serious dame in the north, and we have already seen the Israeli missile defense, even with US support, did not prevent Iran from damaging, reportedly 30,000 facilities in Israel (true from a somewhat untrustworthy source, namely Scheer post (https://scheerpost.com/2025/07/02/iran-damaged-33000-structures-in-israel/).
* "Hamas, though still a threat, has been incapacitated and much of its leadership eliminated and infrastructure shattered." As you know well, eliminate one leader, another will take its place. Apparently within the last couple of weeks, Hamas and at least two several of its partners including Islami Jihad successfully carried out attacks on the IDF serious enough to produce official Israel "security incidents" and they openly brag about it. An IDF figure spoke openly about these attacks. Actually, that is a sign Hamas and partners will agree to the proposed temporary ceasefire. They have bragging rights, you see.
And hopefully there will be a successful resumption of phase 1 and agreement for the total truce commencing Phase 2 with release of all Israelis and others not imprisoned in Gaza. But notice no one talks about all the released Palestinian prisoners; certainly, they aren't playing tidily winks and many are likely back in their respective organization, although many were and are not part of such groups.
But the point is that, in reality, the great majority of the tunnels remain operative. Clearly, the IDF was unable to close those tunnels and "defeat" Hamas because there is no military solution. But Phase 3, which no one talks about using those words anymore, must involve the destruction of the tunnel network or turning yit into some kind of civilian use, or the people of Gaza will be at the mercy of armed terrorist gangs in perpetuity. It will always be possible for groups to hide/bury their weapons, but at least they would not have a secure underground home base.
Those same factions have also been building tunnels in the West Bank, so as to terrorize the PA, not just to attack the IDF or defend against settlers.
Of course, what do I know; I don't read Hebrew or Arabic; I just obsessively read everything in English I can, throw it into my Zotero database, and blog about it here.
Best case scenario: the script is flipped, not a Palestinian state first, normalization latter, but Normalization of relations between Israel and Syria and Israel first with firm promises for a 23 state solution, accompanied by growing European recognition of Palestine, and Phase 3 of the UNSC ceasefire agreement which contains provisions for governance of Gaza and dismantling of the tunnel network.
With all due respect to Jeremy, Israel is the most-hated entity on the planet; and the world will cheer when it is eradicated. The attack against it will likely come from "Osama bin Laden 2.0," and not from Iran or Israel's traditional enemies.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt and General George Marshall opposed its creation; and they were omniscient. Decades ago, Netanyahu morphed into his ancestors' Nazi oppressors; and he and the "Settlers" and rabid Zionists have butchered their non-Jewish neighbors -- men, women and children.
Ariel Sharon and the Rabins hated Netanyahu; and the "Lioness" Leah Rabin blamed him for her husband Yitzhak's tragic assassination. She believed that peace was impossible with Netanyahu at the helm of Israel's government; and her views were prescient.
Anti-Semitism has reached levels globally that have not been seen since World War II, with much worse yet to come. No Jew is safe anywhere. This is Netanyahu’s tragic "gift" to global Jewry. American Jews are Americans, not Israelis. They should distance themselves from Israel and the Apartheid state's nonstop butchery.
From your pen to whatever tablets God has in stock.
Yes, from Jeremy's mouth to G-d's ear. . .
Trump could influence Peace in Israel and the Arab world, just as he could influence the Russia/Ukraine war. The problem is that he only cares about how he can bolster his appearance. He doesn't care about the people in these countries who take the fallout from continuous conflict, just like he does not care that he eliminated funding for weather reporting in the US, and is directly responsible for many deaths after flooding in Texas this weekend. Also, how many deaths during his first fiasco in the White House could have been avoided by actually acknowledging the danger of the COVID virus and following the guidelines for dealing with a pandemic set up by the Obama Presidency?
I don't know if I distrust Trump any less than Netanyahu to make a firm consistent and positive move toward ending the Gaza War and starts negotiations for a 2 state solution. The way I'm feeling these days, I can't hold any hope in the Middle East until our current "leaders" are gone. Thank you, Jeremy, for your continued effort to inform and keep the focus on the talks that need to be conducted. But at this point, at least for me, I believe prayer is all we have right now.
Agree with all of the proposed next steps but is interesting to wonder whether all of Israel’s successes on the periphery, which make this plausible, could have been accomplished had the war ended sooner.
A most interesting question. However now is the time to settle the war and move on to a reconciliation .
We don't have the leaders with the vision and courage to make this happen. We have Trump, Netanyahu, Abbas, and Hamas.
But if Trump really wants his Nobel Peace Prize...
Let's hope. Thank you for this, Jeremy: This Should Be the Week the Gaza War Ends: https://jeremybenami.substack.com/p/this-should-be-the-week-the-gaza. I have worries about these two conclusions of yours in quotes:
* "Hezbollah has been effectively sidelined, and Lebanon has a chance to stabilize and re-establish a functioning government." MD: Both Israel and US media say this is the case, but I have my doubts, in that while Hezbollah's ability to act independently as an Iranian proxy has been sidelined due to the Lebanese government's insistence that it stop acting independently, and apparently by Iran's reluctance to play the H card, even during the brief Iran/Israel war, I think it still retains very significant missile attack capacity. It helps the peace forces to believe and convey what you are saying, but I just didn't see the full evidence Hezbollah has lost its ability to do serious dame in the north, and we have already seen the Israeli missile defense, even with US support, did not prevent Iran from damaging, reportedly 30,000 facilities in Israel (true from a somewhat untrustworthy source, namely Scheer post (https://scheerpost.com/2025/07/02/iran-damaged-33000-structures-in-israel/).
* "Hamas, though still a threat, has been incapacitated and much of its leadership eliminated and infrastructure shattered." As you know well, eliminate one leader, another will take its place. Apparently within the last couple of weeks, Hamas and at least two several of its partners including Islami Jihad successfully carried out attacks on the IDF serious enough to produce official Israel "security incidents" and they openly brag about it. An IDF figure spoke openly about these attacks. Actually, that is a sign Hamas and partners will agree to the proposed temporary ceasefire. They have bragging rights, you see.
And hopefully there will be a successful resumption of phase 1 and agreement for the total truce commencing Phase 2 with release of all Israelis and others not imprisoned in Gaza. But notice no one talks about all the released Palestinian prisoners; certainly, they aren't playing tidily winks and many are likely back in their respective organization, although many were and are not part of such groups.
But the point is that, in reality, the great majority of the tunnels remain operative. Clearly, the IDF was unable to close those tunnels and "defeat" Hamas because there is no military solution. But Phase 3, which no one talks about using those words anymore, must involve the destruction of the tunnel network or turning yit into some kind of civilian use, or the people of Gaza will be at the mercy of armed terrorist gangs in perpetuity. It will always be possible for groups to hide/bury their weapons, but at least they would not have a secure underground home base.
Those same factions have also been building tunnels in the West Bank, so as to terrorize the PA, not just to attack the IDF or defend against settlers.
Of course, what do I know; I don't read Hebrew or Arabic; I just obsessively read everything in English I can, throw it into my Zotero database, and blog about it here.
Best case scenario: the script is flipped, not a Palestinian state first, normalization latter, but Normalization of relations between Israel and Syria and Israel first with firm promises for a 23 state solution, accompanied by growing European recognition of Palestine, and Phase 3 of the UNSC ceasefire agreement which contains provisions for governance of Gaza and dismantling of the tunnel network.
With all due respect to Jeremy, Israel is the most-hated entity on the planet; and the world will cheer when it is eradicated. The attack against it will likely come from "Osama bin Laden 2.0," and not from Iran or Israel's traditional enemies.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2015/12/31/is-israel-doomed/ ("Is Israel Doomed?")
President Franklin D. Roosevelt and General George Marshall opposed its creation; and they were omniscient. Decades ago, Netanyahu morphed into his ancestors' Nazi oppressors; and he and the "Settlers" and rabid Zionists have butchered their non-Jewish neighbors -- men, women and children.
Ariel Sharon and the Rabins hated Netanyahu; and the "Lioness" Leah Rabin blamed him for her husband Yitzhak's tragic assassination. She believed that peace was impossible with Netanyahu at the helm of Israel's government; and her views were prescient.
Anti-Semitism has reached levels globally that have not been seen since World War II, with much worse yet to come. No Jew is safe anywhere. This is Netanyahu’s tragic "gift" to global Jewry. American Jews are Americans, not Israelis. They should distance themselves from Israel and the Apartheid state's nonstop butchery.
See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2023/10/31/americas-jews-are-americans/ ("America’s Jews Are Americans")
Ok they refused it. Did they let in any Jews from displaced persons camps? Did they help save Jews after the 1924 immigration law?
Good analysis.