The real solution for peace in Gaza

By Jonathan Feldstein

During my freshman year in college, my Hillel rabbi asked me a question: “If you have a decision to make with two bad options as the outcome, what do you do?” 19-year-old wise Jonathan answered, “You choose the least bad option.” His response is a lesson that still guides me today. “No, you come up with a good option.”

Since the inhuman Oct. 7 massacre by Hamas terrorists, murdering 1200 people, systematic rape and sexual mutilation, incinerating people alive, and kidnapping over 250 people, 109 of whom are still in captivity in Gaza, I have been troubled by the absurd, knee jerk response of so many who foolishly are doubling down on a very bad option presumably to bring peace. They posit that a “two-state solution” is the only answer: creating a Palestinian Arab state in a territory whose population (as many as three in four of whom) publicly and actively support Hamas, even denying the Hamas massacre ever took place. Or, if they acknowledge it did happen, many find justification for and celebrate it. They subscribe to a genocidal theology that Israel has no legitimacy, that Jews are foreign occupiers, and they worship for the destruction of Israel and murder of all Jews.

It is definitely not a solution that will bring peace, more like the two-state illusion.

What’s needed is a real solution for peace in Gaza, one that will address the ideological core of the problem, the deradicalization about which Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke in Congress. That is not an independent Palestinian state governed by pasteurized terrorists, but a complete restoration of Gaza undertaken by Christians from around the world. It’s a radical idea, all the more so as promoted by an Orthodox Israeli Jew.

The core of the problem in Gaza nurtured by the Iranian-backed Hamas, and embraced by most Gazans, is an extremist Islamic ideology that calls for the destruction of Israel, and genocide of Jews. Christians, on the other hand, love Gazans and love Israel and the Jewish people. They are the most honest honest-brokers who can restore Gaza with love, and prevent a rebuilding of the culture of hate and terror.

Christians have a tradition of going to some of the most dangerous and inhospitable places in the world to show their love and uplift communities. Gaza is ripe, the need is great, and the time is now.

Proponents of the two-state illusion pretend that such an option is possible, under a reformed Palestinian Authority. Unfortunately, many not only promote the two-state illusion, but pressure Israel that this is the holy grail (panacea) that will bring peace.

Today, fast-tracking a Palestinian state simply rewards Islamic terror with the message: Kill enough Jews and get a state. The lack of peace is not for lack of the creation of a Palestinian state. Rather, it is due to Islamic intolerance at the existence of the Jewish state. That’s what they mean when they chant, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” No more Israel or Jews.

Nevertheless, despite these realities, the world still reflexively calls for a “two-state solution,” as if it will actually bring peace. It’s as if their foreign policy is directly out of the movie “Argo” when CIA agent Tony Mendez notes, “There are only bad options. It’s about finding the best one.” At the time, the U.S. faced its own Islamic-rooted hostage crisis. The CIA official to whom he was reporting asks, “You don’t have a better bad idea than this?” to which he is told, “This is the best bad idea we have, sir, by far.”

The current situation is not sustainable, but the answer is not to promote the “best bad idea” that will make the situation worse, legitimizing another terrorist state on Israel’s borders whose citizens want its destruction, and which has failed for decades. What needs to happen now, to actually achieve peace and restore Gaza, is a truly good idea.

Despite promoting the two-state illusion, even those who promote it acknowledge why it’s not practical.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said as much. “We’re also going to have to defeat the ideology behind Hamas and that is not something that can be accomplished on the battlefield… Ultimately you have to beat that idea with a better idea.”

Palestinian Arabs need a change of heart. Creating a new terror state because there’s no better idea is foolhardy. And dangerous.

Gaza does need to be restored, rebuilt from (under) the ground, where hundreds of miles of tunnels created a maze of terrorist infrastructure, on up. The PA and “moderate” Arab states cannot be relied upon. They have been central to the kleptocracy endangering Palestinian Arab through smuggling weapons that allowed Hamas to hijack and control Gaza to begin with. Entrusting them with this alone would be the definition of insanity.

During a webinar discussing this concept gaining traction among Christians, a panel of Christian leaders from all over the world shared why in fact this is the only possible long-term solution for peace in Gaza and why the enthusiasm. While met largely with support among Christians, Jewish response has been mixed. The predominant response has been positive, but criticism ranges from Israel annexing Gaza, Israel bringing the light of Judaism to Gaza, and one person rejecting the idea because Christians might get hurt, blame Israel, and then be less supportive of us.

Rabbi Jonathan Hausman of Ahavath Torah Congregation and a long-time leader building meaningful relations among Christians, closed the webinar with a Jewish perspective. “It’s a tall order,” he observed supporting the concept, and related to the use of the word “eicha” in the Tanach, read this season in Deuteronomy and Lamentations. “How?” Rabbi Hausman noted that all but one of the references of “eicha” are about sorrow. This is relevant especially in the midst of a war in Israel and widespread antisemitism globally. “Why is this happening to us, now?” The one exception, the root of the same word is used in Genesis when God calls out to man and asks, “Where are you?” He noted that our response to everything must be with a sense of responsibility.

This is the message Rabbi Hausman observed, “How are we going to respond constructively and proactively, to deal with a situation that’s seemingly intractable, and how to respond in some kind of way that will move us forward. Our prayer has to be that those involved with this will be successful,” affirming the blessing, “Blessed are you Lord our God who has given His glory to human beings.”

The actual solution for peace in Gaza requires an “army” of Christians who will restore everything. Engineers, architects, and city planners. Medical personnel, nutritionists, and educators. People with backgrounds that can help restore Gaza and create prosperity. Christians will succeed because they love Gazans and want to see them reject the evil Islam represented by Hamas and Iran, to see them prosper. They will oppose a return to hatred of and terrorism against Israel, because it’s bad for the Gazans. But they’ll also do so because they love Israel and the Jewish people, and want to see Israel live in safety, free of genocidal threats.

And when the Christians show their love, and genuine caring, Gazans will see another path, a “better idea.” They will realize that the extremist Islam which they have embraced has failed them. They will experience people with a relationship to the God of Israel and begin to realize that the people and State of Israel are not only not enemies, but essential allies.

Ridiculous? Crazy? The Gazans will never accept…. Maybe. But not only is there not a better bad idea, this is actually the best idea possible.

Jonathan Feldstein is president of the Genesis 123 Foundation. He was born and educated in the U.S. and immigrated to Israel in 2004. He is married and the father of six. He is a leader working with and among Christian supporters of Israel, and shares experiences of living as an Orthodox Jew in Israel through his work, writing, and as host of the Inspiration from Zion podcast. He can be reached at firstpersonisrael@gmail.com.