White smoke did not rise Monday evening from the Oval Office during the Netanyahu-Trump meeting, and no official announcement came regarding a Gaza ceasefire and immediate release of all Israeli hostages. Nevertheless, this marked a significant turning point in the difficult campaign's history, potentially serving as the vital springboard for halting the fighting and perhaps reshaping the entire Middle East arena.
For the first time in nearly two years, a plan has been developed and presented by President Trump's administration that has won support from Arab states and Israel, not only for the day after the fighting ends, but also regarding the region's future character and the cooperative processes and confidence-building measures that will define it going forward. This occurs under the stabilizing leadership of the American superpower.
The axis of evil
Not only does the new framework incorporate specific mechanisms intended to completely remove Hamas from the picture as a ruling body and as a murderous terror organization connected at its core to the regional apex of the axis of evil, namely Iran, but it is entirely anchored in a broad inter-Arab agreement regarding the need to mobilize and act jointly and institutionally to channel the bleeding front toward the desired destination of sustainable arrangements carrying the promise of economic prosperity and political moderation.
This, therefore, represents the profound meaning of the new framework plan that was released to the world on Monday evening, pending its final approval (with vigorous assistance from the entire bloc of Arab states, which will exert pressure on Hamas). This is a new reference framework whose basic principles cannot be ignored; at its core, the broad recognition that Hamas' time as Gaza's ruler has passed.
The multilateral institutions to be established, along with the organizational mechanisms that will govern their functioning, are intended to ensure the success of the promised de-radicalization process, which will secure Israel's safety and advance it toward a path of rehabilitation and growth. The ball is now in the hands of the American eagle, which is supposed to utilize all the available influence levers and is committed to the war's immediate end, to ensure that this framework regarding the contours of the new Middle East indeed materializes.
As for Israel, after nearly two years of difficult war and an unbearable number of casualties, one can only hope that the time of recovery and healing will arrive very soon. Given the fact that the special relationship fabric with the US has remained strong, and relations with moderate Arab bloc states have not unraveled, there is room to hope and believe that a new and calmer era stands at Israel's doorstep, both in the domestic sphere and, of course, in the regional arena.
