Winning the Peace in the Middle East

There’s only one way to describe the scenes in Israel earlier this week: joyous.

As part of the first phase of President Trump’s 20-point peace plan, the 20 remaining living hostages returned to their loved ones in scenes that captivated the world. Despite enduring two years of captivity and unimaginable suffering, their joy at reuniting with loved ones is proof that evil will not prevail in the land of Israel.

Impelled by the unspeakable attacks of October 7, the world’s only Jewish state achieved what was once unthinkable. Together with the United States, they took on the Iranian proxies arrayed against it – from Hamas in Gaza to the Iranian high command – and fundamentally reordered the Middle East in the process.

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But without the judicious application of American power, this week’s triumph might not have been possible. For that, President Trump and his team deserve every plaudit.

From the start of his second term, President Trump took the exact opposite approach to the inconstant, weak policies of the Biden Administration. He put pressure on Hamas, he joined Israel in the 12 Day War to destroy Iran’s nuclear program – a pivotal development that severely weakened Israel’s chief adversary and Hamas’ key backer – and he backed Israel to the hilt.

This is consistent with the path we laid out during my time as Secretary of State in the first Trump Administration. Then as now, the President refused to play the game of endless negotiations that only strengthened the position of bad actors and instead focused on isolating those malign forces and incentivizing states to pursue normalization with Israel. From moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem, to recognizing the biblical claim of the Jewish people to Judea and Samaria; to taking out Qasem Soleimani and applying maximum pressure on Iran; to the success of the Abraham Accords in opening up avenues of cooperation between Israel and key Muslim powers like the UAE and Bahrain, the policies we pursued in that first term all built up to this moment.

In his speech to the Knesset on Monday, President Trump hailed this moment as “...the historic dawn of a new Middle East.” I pray that this is so. But in order for that vision to be fulfilled, it is vital that we keep up the pressure on Hamas and their patrons in Tehran.

Remember: Hamas did not release the living hostages and agree to a ceasefire because they want peace. Destroying the state of Israel and asserting their malign interpretation of Islam is the group’s raison d’etre; without this goal it will cease to exist in any meaningful way. This is why we’re already seeing Hamas renege on the promise to return the remains of all deceased hostages in their possession, and it’s why they’ve begun a bloody campaign to neutralize rival factions within Gaza to secure their own position. The intent is clear: strengthen their grip on power, retain any sources of leverage possible, and live to fight another day.

Neither Israel nor the United States can tolerate such an outcome. For Israel, this is an existential question. For the United States, it’s a matter of our own international credibility and restoring the deterrence lost under the previous Administration.

Working together with coalition partners, Hamas will need to be disarmed and prevented from having any role in governance. Gaza must be completely demilitarized. The antisemitic brainwashing that has prevailed both in Gaza and Judea and Samaria will have to be tackled and replaced with an educational system and civic culture that fosters peace and prosperity. And we must focus relentlessly on continuing to weaken the regime in Tehran so that it cannot reconstitute its “Ring of Fire” around Israel, rebuild its nuclear weapons program, or reassert itself as a regional power. 

It won’t be easy, but if President Trump can seize upon the momentum generated by this week’s diplomatic triumph and keep up the pressure, he will be on course to fundamentally reshape the Middle East – and the world – for the better.

In the Book of Amos, God reiterates his eternal promise: "I will bring my people Israel back from exile. They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them... I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them." May it ever be so – and may the Lord continue to bless the people of Israel and the United States of America.

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