"After so many years of incessant war and endless danger, today the skies are calm, the weapons are silent, the sirens are silent, and the sun is rising on a Holy Land that is FINALLY AT PEACE—a land and a region that will live, God willing, in peace for all eternity." These were the words of Donald Trump before the Knesset, celebrating the ceasefire in Gaza, the return of the hostages, and, of course, his diplomatic success. "For future generations, this will be the moment when everything began to change... Like in the United States right now, this will be the GOLDEN AGE of Israel and the Golden Age of the Middle East."
The problem with Donald Trump is that everything is always historic, that no one has ever done it before him, and that he promises a golden age for just about anything and everything. This hyperbolic style is indeed characteristic of him.
A dynamic of peace
But this time, we must recognize that this is an historic result, that a peace process has been set in motion for the first time since the Oslo Accords in 1993, and that only he could have achieved it. Not him, the US president. Him, Donald Trump. Not only because he is the leader of the world's most powerful country, but also because of his unpredictability and his ability to break with convention.
All this makes him the only leader capable of twisting everyone's arm to achieve the result he wants. In this case, what he wants is a peaceful Middle East. Because fundamentally, he doesn't like war; he just wants to be able to do business: he and his family have many interests in the region.
He outlined this vision last May in Saudi Arabia during the first diplomatic tour of his second term. "Before our eyes, a new generation of leaders is transcending old conflicts and divisions of the past and forging a future where the Middle East is defined by commerce, not chaos; where it exports technology, not terror; and where people of different nations, religions, and beliefs build cities together—rather than bomb each other into oblivion."
Above all, he wants to appear as the peacemaker: the one who claims to have stopped "six wars in six months," then "seven wars in seven months," and now "eight wars in eight months." All this against the backdrop of his obsession with the Nobel Peace Prize. An award that ultimately eluded him (at least for this year), as last Friday it was awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.
The question of the day after
Yesterday, Donald Trump celebrated the success of the first stage of his peace plan: the return of Israeli hostages, the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, and the partial withdrawal of the Israeli army. While we can welcome the cessation of hostilities, the hardest part is yet to come: the disarmament of Hamas, the securing of Gaza and the reconstruction and governance of the enclave.
This is all the more true given that the "peace president" will have to deal with Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been leading a war cabinet for the past two years. Since October 7, 2023, and one of the worst security breaches in the country's history, Benjamin Netanyahu has remained in power thanks to the war. The Israeli prime minister has embarked on a kind of headlong rush that has led him to want to exterminate Hamas in Gaza (even if it means razing the enclave to the ground) and to confront all of Israel's enemies in the region: from Hezbollah in Lebanon to the Houthis in Yemen and, of course, Iran. This uncompromising stance has isolated Israel on the diplomatic stage.
But the real turning point came on September 9, when Israeli planes bombed a building in Doha, Qatar, targeting Hamas leaders. This was an unprecedented attack on a key US ally in the region—the country is home to Al-Udeid Air Base, the largest US base in the Middle East.
From then on, the US president threw his weight behind forcing Benjamin Netanyahu to support his peace plan. This led to tense exchanges behind the scenes, as evidenced by this quote from Donald Trump at the end of September, reported by Axios: "I don't know why you're always so f*cking negative. It's a victory. Take it." Yesterday, speaking before the Knesset, Donald Trump simply said that Netanyahu "is not an easy person to get along with."
An opportunity for Netanyahu
A few minutes before Donald Trump, the Israeli Prime Minister seemed to want to align himself with his vision: "There is a time for everything, a time for every matter under heaven. A time for peace and a time for war," quoting a biblical verse. "The last two years have been marked by war. The coming years will, hopefully, be a period of peace."
Whatever opinion one may have of him, it must be acknowledged that he has a certain political instinct, which has always enabled him to succeed. He first served as Prime Minister between 1996 and 1999, then returned in 2009 and has held the position almost continuously since then.
Remaining in power also allows him to postpone his court dates, including a trial for corruption, fraud, and breach of trust.
Parliamentary elections are scheduled for next year, but some believe that Benjamin Netanyahu could take advantage of a surge in popularity in the wake of the end of the war to call early elections.
