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Should Trump get a Nobel Peace Prize for Gaza?
If the Gaza war is winding down, there will be two clear lessons to be remembered. First, United States pressure and leverage are vitally useful; second, the Israelis and Palestinians cannot be left to their own devices without risking catastrophe, so U.S. engagement will be vital going forward.
The deal announced by President Donald Trump Wednesday night is a first-phase agreement in which Hamas consents to release the 47 remaining Oct. 7 hostages — of which 20 are believed alive — and to continue talking about the remainder of Trump’s proposed peace plan. Few expected Hamas to agree to that release, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, without a full deal to end the war. The assumption, supported by leaks, is that the group has received U.S. guarantees that fighting will indeed not resume.
The expectation, instead, is that in one form or another Hamas will agree to lay down its arms, at least in the Gaza Strip, handing power to a complex governing edifice that will include local Palestinian technocrats, the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, a multinational Arab force and an international oversight committee chaired by the U.S. If that occurs, it will only have happened because Hamas was under extraordinary pressure from external patrons.
Why did all this happen now? The timing reflects a convergence of domestic, regional and global incentives.
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political calculus has shifted. His governing coalition faces looming crises, including budget conflicts and Haredi demands for formal military exemptions. The exhausted public — and a growing minority of the military — has been demanding a resolution to the war, prioritizing the return of hostages, with increasing fury.
Where prolonging the fighting once served Netanyahu by forestalling an inquiry into his failures leading up to the Hamas attack of Oct. 7, 2023, the approach of elections in 2026 now incentivizes a quick end: It’s difficult to envision any route toward electoral success while advancing a broadly unpopular war. Moreover, Netanyahu cannot refuse Trump, who is lionized in Israel.
Now, he’ll attempt to flip the narrative away from the war’s cost to focus on its successes: The ultimate return of the hostages — aside from the dozens killed during the war — the weakening of Iran and its militias, and, hopefully, the freeing of Gaza from Hamas.
Across the Arab world, the pressure was building too. Outrage over Gaza’s devastation made passivity by other Middle Eastern nations politically dangerous.
Egypt faced massive economic damage from the Yemeni Houthis’ Gaza-related disruptions of Red Sea shipping, which emptied Suez Canal revenues. And Israel’s thrashing of the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, the subsequent fall of the Hezbollah-backed dictator Bashar al-Assad in Syria, and the weakening of Iran in the June war with Israel, all emboldened Arab leaders to turn against the militias — like Hamas — that Iran funded around the region.
In July, a historic turning point occurred when key Arab governments, including Qatar, publicly called on Hamas to disarm — a Rubicon in regional politics.
Potentially decisive was the recent addition of Turkey to the array of Muslim countries pressuring Hamas. Turkey had sometimes helped to prop up Hamas, allowing funding channels to the group and occasionally hosting its exiled leaders. But with his economy reeling, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seeking defense markets and access to American F-35s, and in Trump he has a U.S. leader indifferent to his authoritarian ways. Signing onto Trump’s effort gave Erdogan an opportunity to work toward those goals, and help shove aside a huge distraction.
Washington used this landscape to orchestrate overwhelming regional pressure on Hamas, with carrots and sticks incentivizing every relevant actor. The most clear-cut case was Qatar receiving, last week, a NATO-style security agreement from the U.S., clearly a down payment to get it to bring Hamas to heel. With the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner again involved in the talks, it should surprise no one to see conversations about Israeli-Saudi normalization, and similar U.S. security guarantees to Riyadh, soon reentering the discourse.
Trump’s political and personal motivations are, as always, a factor, with public opinion in the U.S. turning against Israel. Just as the war created politically damaging splits in the Democratic Party headed into the 2024 election, it is now creating fissures in Trump’s MAGA movement, with the isolationist branch abandoning Israel and bashing Trump over his alliance with Netanyahu. Resolving the Gaza crisis allows him to demonstrate effectiveness on the international stage, burnish credibility, and even, who knows, be in the running for a Nobel Peace Prize.
In Europe, the war was also becoming a massive political problem, riling up large Muslim minorities in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Holland, Sweden and elsewhere. Center-left governments like those of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have watched the backlash strengthen the anti-migrant populist right. Facing these shifts, Europe can be expected to do what it must, diplomatically and financially, to pacify the Middle East.
And there will be much to be done, especially financially. Rebuilding Gaza will require tens of billions of dollars. Mainly, however, Israelis and Palestinians will need close supervision. With all due respect to local agency and principles of sovereignty, the two sides’ failure in managing their century-old conflict is too monumental, and too globally disruptive, to be ignored.
The Palestinians have produced weak, corrupt governance in the Palestinian Authority on one hand, and on the other a truly diabolical array of jihadist groups headlined by Hamas. And Israel has saddled itself with a right-wing government that seems to not understand the imperative of separating the Zionist enterprise from the masses of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
What should happen going forward is politically difficult but clear. Israel must be prevented by the U.S. from expanding its settlements in the West Bank, which undermine any credible path toward Palestinian statehood. Palestinians must be pressured to reform their governance: ending payments to the families of terrorists, banning all militias, reforming their education system to preach peace, and accepting realistic parameters for eventual statehood.
In the wider region, Arab states must not tolerate militias. Hezbollah must be disarmed in Lebanon. Iranian-backed Shia militias in Iraq must be neutralized or integrated under state authority. The Houthis must be decisively defeated to restore security to the Red Sea.
To follow through on all of this, U.S. involvement remains critical. U.S. pressure cannot always work — for example, it lacks the leverage on Moscow to end the Ukraine war — but in the Middle East, the stars are aligning. Conditional financial support, diplomatic backing, and military guarantees must accompany every step.
The final step, which would be truly worthy of a Nobel Prize, should be the two-state solution ending a century of conflict in the Holy Land.
The post Should Trump get a Nobel Peace Prize for Gaza? appeared first on The Forward.
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Jewish Democrats back Michigan AG Dana Nessel’s decision to skip state party convention
(JTA) — Local and national Jewish Democrats say they are sympathetic after Michigan’s Jewish attorney general, Dana Nessel, said she would skip the state Democratic Party’s nominating convention over concerns about antisemitism and harassment.
“I don’t blame AG Nessel for not wanting to go and basically put herself in situations that feel untenable in this moment of time and don’t add any value politically, personally,” Jessica “Decky” Alexander, the Michigan Jewish Democratic caucus chair, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on Friday.
Alexander’s comment came a day after Nessel announced during a televised antisemitism roundtable that she would be skipping the convention next month, where party leaders will finalize the state’s Democratic candidate for Senate following a divisive primary that has focused in part on Israel and antisemitism.
“I don’t feel safe going. I feel like my presence isn’t going to be welcome. I don’t want to get chased around. I don’t want to get harassed. I don’t want to get yelled and screamed at. I don’t want to get booed off the stage, irrespective of what I’m saying,” Nessel said during the roundtable. “And I believe that if I go, that is what will happen because it’s been happening to me.”
She said she had filed a formal complaint within the party about a party official who had called her a neo-Nazi because of her beliefs. “Why is this person more accepted in our party than me?” she asked without naming the official. Her office responded to a request for comment by referring to the recorded livestream of the antisemitism roundtable.
Nessel’s declaration comes in the final days of the primary between Rep. Haley Stevens, a pro-Israel stalwart, and Abdul El-Sayed, a democratic socialist who is deeply critical of Israel. El-Sayed is surging in polls despite a reported $30 million spent against him by AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby, and its supporters, whom he has made a target of criticism from the campaign trail.
Nessel’s comments also follow turmoil at the Michigan Democratic Party’s endorsement convention in April, where Stevens was booed by attendees. A third primary candidate who later dropped out of the race, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, said a convention attendee had targeted her Jewish husband with an antisemitic slur.
The incident has fueled alarm among Jewish Democrats, according to Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America.
“She’s not alone,” Soifer told JTA about Nessel on Friday. “We’ve heard from other Jewish Democrats who attended the Democratic Party convention earlier this year in Michigan, and there was a sense of discomfort amid what felt like a pro-Palestinian protest [that] may have even blurred the line for some into antisemitic sentiment — and it’s really concerning.”
Nessel has raised the alarm about antisemitism within the party for years, alleging in 2024 that Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a prominent pro-Palestinian voice, had been antisemitic when criticizing charges Nessel filed against pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of Michigan.
For her part, Alexander said she would be participating in the nominating convention and said she believed the chair of the state Democratic Party, Curtis Hertel, had been “very accessible and very open to making sure that we, including our Jewish elected officials, feel safe in that space.” But she said she understood why Nessel was staying away.
“It would never even occur to me, but I’m not an elected official,” Alexander said. “It’s a different stake for me than it is for Dana. I understand her completely.”
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Jewish Democrats back Michigan AG Dana Nessel’s decision to skip state party convention appeared first on The Forward.
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Maine rabbis call for peace, urge politicians to stop calling Gaza war a ‘genocide’
(JTA) — Every congregational rabbi in Maine has signed onto a statement calling for peace and urging the state’s political leaders to stop using the term “genocide” to describe Israel’s war in Gaza, following a Democratic primary in which several candidates used the label for the first time.
But the rabbis also indicated that they, too, were unsatisfied with conditions in the Middle East and called on Israeli and Palestinian leaders to work toward a peaceful future.
“We call upon Maine’s leaders, and particularly its political leaders, to reject the irresponsible usage of the term in describing the Israel-Hamas War,” said the statement released on Friday. “We also call upon Israeli and Palestinian leaders to end the cycle of violence and to create a better world for both Palestinian and Israeli children.”
The statement, titled “A Call for Peace and Responsible Rhetoric,” argues that using the term as a “political slogan does not advance peace in the Middle East.” The term “erases essential moral and legal distinctions, diminishes the meaning of genocide, and inflames hatred for the local Jewish community,” the rabbis say.
“Compassion for Palestinians does not require the adoption of hateful and misleading language,” they continue. “Advocating for peace does not require participation in a ‘Holocaust inversion’ against the Jewish community. And political leadership does not require demonizing one community in the service of another.”
The statement comes days after Troy Jackson, a former logger and state Senate president, secured the Maine Democratic U.S. Senate nomination Saturday at the party’s nominating convention to replace Graham Platner, a staunch Israel critic who dropped out of the race earlier this month. Platner faced a sexual assault allegation, which he denies. Jackson now faces Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins in November’s general election.
Platner’s romp to the primary victory featured routine use of “genocide” to describe Israel’s actions. And ahead of the convention to replace him, Jackson and several other Democratic hopefuls who later exited the race began using the term “genocide” to describe Israel’s war in Gaza for the first time, a shift that drew scrutiny from some Jewish leaders and voters in the state.
The use of the term has become a “currency for acquiring power and position in Maine’s Democratic party,” Rabbi Rachel Isaacs, the leader of Beth Israel Congregation in Waterville, who also signed the statement, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
“Too many Maine Democrats are cynically willing to trade in that currency at the expense of our safety and dignity,” she said in an emailed statement. “We decided we needed to say something collectively, both about the specious and dangerous nature of the claim, and about how much damage has been done to our families and congregants.”
The statement Friday was spearheaded by the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine and signed by every congregational rabbi in the state, including Rabbi Bill Siemers of the Conservative Congregation Beth Israel in Bangor and Rabbi Erica Asch of the Reform Temple Beth El in Augusta. (Rabbis affiliated with the Chabad movement in Maine did not appear on the signatory list.)
Zach Schwartz, the director of the Jewish Community Relations Council at the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine, said the federation hoped the “unity displayed here in Maine can inspire Jewish communities across the US to also unite against the extremist rhetoric harming our community and our children.”
Rabbi Josh Stanton, the associate vice president of interfaith and intergroup initiatives for Jewish Federations of North America, also hailed the joint statement.
“Maine’s Jewish clergy are setting an important example with their call to put aside inflammatory rhetoric and look to the common good,” Stanton said in an emailed statement. “At a time of rising polarization and declining civil discourse, the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine’s efforts to unify the community around this important message are a mark of true leadership.”
Isaacs told JTA that she hoped Jackson would “support, understand, and advocate for all of Maine’s citizens, including the totality of Maine’s diverse Jewish community.”
“Work with us to figure out how to express outrage and legitimate critique of Israel’s government without succumbing to language that you might not know is an ancient antisemitic trope, or dismissing the security needs of Israel’s citizens,” Isaacs said of her message to Jackson. “Please have the courage to forge your own path, and not follow in the footsteps of Graham Platner, a man who should have never been normalized, endorsed, or empowered.”
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Maine rabbis call for peace, urge politicians to stop calling Gaza war a ‘genocide’ appeared first on The Forward.
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Boy George cedes role of King Herod in ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ production after releasing pro-Israel song
(JTA) — Boy George has withdrawn from his run as King Herod in London’s West End revival of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” days before he was due to take the stage and 24 hours after releasing “We Will Dance Again,” dedicated to the victims of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on the Nova music festival in Israel.
The 80’s pop star was scheduled to appear at London’s Palladium starting Monday as part of the production’s rotating cast playing King Herod, the Judean king who is best known by Jews for his expansion of the Second Temple and to Christians for his efforts to stave off the arrival of a challenger — the story of which is reflected in the rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.
Boy George will be replaced by actor Richard Armitage in the London production.
In announcing the cast change, Paul Kelmsley, the singer’s manager, did not directly mention the blowback the former Culture Club frontman was receiving for releasing a pro-Israel song but alluded to it.
“George has never been afraid to stand by his personal convictions, and I have always respected him for that,” he said. ”In this instance, I felt it was right to step aside, allowing the production to remain the focus, while ensuring everyone involved can move forward with mutual respect and goodwill.”
Boy George is defending his decision to release the song, saying he believes artists should be free to express their views even when they are unpopular. In “We Will Dance Again,” the singer rejects claims of genocide against Israel and proclaims, “If you’re ever confused, I stand with the Jews.”
Earlier Friday, Boy George lashed back at the vitriol he was getting online. “What is most shocking is the amount of gay folk attacking me, ” he posted on X. “If you support terrorism you can in the words of Divine ‘Take your toolkit and go f—_ a garage,’” he said, referring to a quote attributed to the taboo-breaking transgender artist.
“When I say ‘they want to kill every last one of us’ I am also talking about us queers, not just the Jewish community,” Boy George said. “When will you wake up?”
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Boy George cedes role of King Herod in ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ production after releasing pro-Israel song appeared first on The Forward.
