48 | NOVEMBER 14 • 2024
J
N
F
or months on the campaign
trail, Donald Trump has
said he wants the war in
Gaza to end — even reportedly
setting a timeline for Israel to
finish its campaign against Hamas
in the Palestinian territory by his
inauguration.
He also warned at the Republican
convention that if Hamas does not
release its hostages before Jan. 20, it
will pay “a very big price.”
But with Trump’s landslide
victory and possible control of
both houses of Congress, will his
campaign vow translate into real-
world results? And will it deliver on
the return of the hostages — one
goal shared across Israelis and Jews
of all political persuasions?
The answers depend, according
to experts on Middle East policy,
on specifics that Trump has not yet
offered; on Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces
pressures that extend well beyond
Trump; and, to a certain degree, on
the definitions of the words “war”
and “end.”
Multiple analysts said they
expected fighting to continue
in some form despite Trump’s
warnings.
Mark Dubowitz, the president
of the Foundation for the Defense
of Democracies, which favors a
confrontational posture in dealing
with Iran and its proxies, said he
believed Trump understood that
Israel would continue to engage
militarily with its enemies. In a
call with Netanyahu before the
latest Israeli strike on Iran, Trump
reportedly told the prime minister,
“Do what you have to do.”
“I don’t think the incoming
Trump administration is under
any delusions that ‘ending the war’
essentially means no continued
Israeli operations in Gaza or in
southern Lebanon or against Iran,”
Dubowitz said. “I think what
[Trump is] talking about are major
ground operations in Lebanon and
major ground operations in Gaza.”
Shira Efron is senior director of
policy research at the Israel Policy
Forum, an organization that seeks
the establishment of a Palestinian
state alongside Israel. “The war in
Gaza, the intensive fighting, ended
months ago — what we have now is
a counterinsurgency,” she said.
“Israel could say, ‘OK, we ended
the war in Gaza, but we are staying
here for, I don’t know, 10 years until
we can hand it over to a trusted
partner,
’” she said. “
And this is
something that Trump might be fine
with.
”
Efron noted that Joe Biden and
Kamala Harris have been specific
in outlining how they want the
war to end. That solution includes
a release of the hostages and a
surge of humanitarian assistance to
Palestinians in Gaza. In contrast,
she said, “I’m not sure that we
know where Trump and his folks
are going to be,” Efron said.
POSITIONS ARE UNCLEAR
Whether Trump would count the
war as having ended if there are
ongoing military operations in
Gaza and Lebanon is unclear. As
with many aspects of his agenda,
Post-Election Speculation
Could Trump end the war and bring the hostages home?
RON KAMPEAS JTA
ELECTION 2024
I
sraeli President Isaac Herzog
on Nov. 7 congratulated U.S.
President-elect Donald Trump on
his “overwhelming victory,” wishing
him and his administration success.
The Israeli head of state “thanked
President Trump for his longstand-
ing steadfast friendship and support
for Israel,” according to a statement
from the President’s Residence in
Jerusalem. Herzog also “expressed
his confidence that President Trump
would continue to work tirelessly to
promote peace and security for Israel
and the broader Middle East.”
Herzog stressed to Trump the
“urgent need” to secure the return of
the 101 hostages still held by Hamas
terrorists in Gaza for almost 400 days,
including Americans, due to their
“unimaginable cruelty and suffering.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
was among the first world leaders to
congratulate Trump on his election
victory during a phone call on Nov. 6.
The conversation, which lasted
some 20 minutes, was described by
Jerusalem as “warm and cordial.” The
two were said to have “agreed to
work together for Israel’s security and
discussed the Iranian threat.”
Earlier that day, the Israeli premier
hailed Trump’s “historic return” to
the White House. The Republican
candidate’s landslide win “offers a
new beginning for America and a
powerful recommitment to the great
alliance between Israel and America,”
Netanyahu said.
Herzog Hails
Trump’s Support
JNS
Then-President Donald Trump and then-
opposition leader Isaac Herzog at the Israel
Museum in Jerusalem, Israel, May 23, 2017.
HAIM ZACH/GPO/JTA
Then-President Donald
Trump and Prime Minister
of Israel Benjamin
Netanyahu participate in
a meeting in the White
House, Sept. 15, 2020.
DOUG MILLS/POOL/GETTY IMAGES/JTA