A few weeks ago, Israeli-Palestinian peace seemed impossible. On Monday, President Donald Trump was in the Middle East to finalize his peace plan for Gaza. It happened so quickly that it looked easy.
But achieving peace was neither quick nor easy. It is the result of a careful, step-by-step process that President Trump initiated in the first week of his first term.
He concluded early on that the only path to peace lay in rejecting conventional wisdom and “flipping the script.”
TRUMP CELEBRATES PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST AFTER SIGNING GAZA DEAL: ‘ACHIEVED THE IMPOSSIBLE’
It started in January 2017, when Trump’s top advisers met in the White House Situation Room to assess President Joe Biden’s failed foreign policy. We sat around the table and discussed countries and regions. When we arrived in the Middle East, we were faced with a choice.
The Gulf Arab countries underwent a generational change in leadership. We could continue to work with the older generation of leaders in their 70s. It was a known quantity. The US had been doing business with them for decades. They were radically conservative, anti-Israel and tolerant of terrorism. But they were also aligned with other American interests, especially oil exports.
The alternative was to work with the younger, emerging generation of leaders in their 30s. President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner argued that we should embrace that younger group, even if they haven’t been tested yet. They were Western educated and comfortable in open societies and diversified economies. They understood that relying solely on oil revenues was a dead end. They were determined to move in a new direction – one that renounced Islamic extremism and ongoing war with Israel in favor of social and economic modernization. They would even be open to peace with Israel.
President Trump has flipped the script. He supported that younger generation. Young Arab leaders from the Gulf States regularly entered and left the White House in those early days. They looked like traditional Arabs with their flowing robes and white headdresses, but they were committed to radical reform and modernization.
WORLD LEADERS PRAISE ‘LANDMARK’ ISRAEL-HAMAS PEACE DEAL MEDIATED BY US: ‘NEW HORIZON OF HOPE’
Over the years, these leaders have risen to power, and President Trump has built close personal relationships with them. It was that mutual trust that allowed Trump to negotiate the historic Abraham Accords between Israel and the Gulf Arabs at the end of his first term. Even though President Biden foolishly distanced the US from those leaders when he took office, Trump and Kushner kept the lines of communication open.
When President Trump returned to the White House, his first official visit was to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. The younger generation of Arab leaders, now firmly in power, revered him. Trump had both their trust and their loyalty. Now he would use it to lead the region to peace. Because he had supported them years ago, they would support him now.
President Donald Trump walks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman during a welcome ceremony in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 13, 2025. (Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of the Saudi Royal Court/Distribution via REUTERS)
Then Trump flipped the script a second time. Conventional wisdom, led by President Biden, sought to appease Iran and distance the US from Israel and the Gulf Arabs.
Once back in power, President Trump reversed course on Biden’s failed policies. He reimposed sanctions to strangle the Iranian economy.
He resumed America’s strong support for Israel.
After October 7, President Trump supported Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts to defeat Iran’s terrorist allies in Lebanon, Syria, Gaza and throughout the region.
President Donald Trump speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion International Airport before boarding his plane to Sharm El-Sheikh on October 13, 2025 in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Once Iran’s allies were destroyed and the Iranian economy was in ruins, President Trump dismantled Iran’s nuclear weapons program.
TRUMP BELIEVED BY MSNBC, LIBERAL MEDIA FIGURES FOR SECURING PEACE DEAL FOR ISRAEL
Trump flipped the script for the third time at the United Nations a few weeks ago. While the press focused on sabotaged teleprompters and escalators, Trump met privately with leaders from Gulf Arab states. He convinced Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan and other Muslim countries to sign his twenty-point peace plan. The key to success was that Qatar, Hamas’s long-time ally, agreed. President Trump has secured this by reining in Israel and offering security guarantees.
Trump got the entire Muslim world to sign on to a peace plan that demanded Hamas be disarmed and banned from participating in a post-war Gaza government. Essentially, they have all abandoned Hamas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed the plan two days later at the White House.
But would Hamas agree? They had little choice. Their Gulf Arab allies opposed them. Their Iranian sponsor was bankrupt and abandoned. The whole world had signed onto Trump’s plan. If Hamas refused, Israel had Trump’s permission to “finish the job once and for all” — destroy what was left of Hamas and do it quickly.
So Hamas signed the peace plan rather than face destruction.
The hostages have now been released. Israel will withdraw from Gaza and abandon efforts to build settlements in Palestinian areas.
But will it hold up? Under normal circumstances probably not. But the beauty of Trump’s peace plan is that it not only isolates Hamas from the Muslim world, but also separates Hamas from the Palestinian people. The day-after plan offers peace and prosperity for the Palestinian people – but only when Hamas is gone.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS ADVICE
After the ceasefire, countries in the region have guaranteed to keep peace and rebuild Gaza. Humanitarian aid, reconstruction and employment will no longer be channeled through Hamas, but will go directly to the Palestinian people through new, Hamas-free government entities.
Everyone – Israel, the US, the Arabs, the Egyptians, the Turks and especially the Palestinian people – has an interest in keeping Hamas out. Gaza will be rebuilt quickly as regional and international investors and sponsors move in.
As President Trump says, this is “a historic dawn” for the entire Middle East, not just Gaza. The people of the region will now trade terrorism for technology, trade for chaos. They will join the Abraham Accords. The Middle East is ready for a golden age for all Abrahamic peoples. A peaceful region could become the gateway for trade and transit from Europe to Asia.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Only Donald J. Trump could have done this. His dogged determination, endless energy and willingness to turn conventional wisdom on its head made all the difference.
Blessed are the peacemakers.
CLICK HERE TO FROM KT McFARLAND
