A Twenty-Point Turn
Wednesday October 1, 2025 – ט׳ תִּשְׁרֵי תשפ”ו
After nearly two years of war, there is finally a credible plan on the table to bring the war to an end, return the hostages, dismantle Hamas’s infrastructure of terror, and begin the long and arduous process of rebuilding. The 20-Point Trump plan contains a collection of generally reasonable ideas that have been circulating for years but have not been implemented.
Listening to President Trump in his press conference, I wondered what it might be like to be his speechwriter (if he has one). Lest we become too familiar or accustomed to the absurdity of this type of presidential behavior, Trump seemed, as usual, to center his plan, the future of peace in the Middle East, rather than himself, in delivering the report of his meeting to the public. He read off a list of regional leaders, as if reminiscing about old college friends or golf buddies, qualifying each as a “great guy,” and “oh yeah, Erdogan, we’re actually great friends, and I respect him a lot…”
That should serve as a reminder that, unlike his predecessors, he is interested in one thing and one thing only, recognition for accomplishing what no one else could, and has his eyes on the Nobel Peace Prize.
Of course, this is a case of ‘nothing new under the sun’ as Haaretz’s Chaim Levinson reported:
“Trump’s plan is exactly exactly exactly exactly the plan that has been on the table for two years already for releasing the hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, an Israeli withdrawal in exchange for removing Hamas, and transferring control of Gaza to an Arab coalition.
There was full full consensus on it. Once it was called the Qatar plan, once the Cairo plan, once Biden’s. The exact same story.
Almost two years here went on a right-wing fantasy for controlling the food through GHF, for expelling the Arabs of Gaza, at the price of an enormous bloodshed of one of the most unnecessary wars there have been here.”
But so, what?
At this point, all of that is background noise. Netanyahu’s gimmick-filled speech offered nothing concrete about moving forward and ending the war, and showed that we have reached a point at which Donald Trump is turning out to be the responsible adult in the room.
What matters most is that Trump’s proposal has the backing of the European Union, the Palestinian Authority, key Arab states, Israeli hostage families, and the Hamas patrons Turkey and Qatar. Suffering Gazans also prefer this plan to seemingly perpetual bloodshed as well.
At the White House, the plan also received qualified support from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who praised it as achieving Israel’s war aims.
Back at home in Israel, the plan received broad support from the mainstream Israeli public and the two Yairs – Lapid and Golan. Opposition leader Yair Lapid stated that:
“These are vital Israeli interests. The danger now isn’t those who say ’no,’ but those who say ’yes, but’ — especially Netanyahu, who often says ‘yes’ abroad and ‘but’ at home. We cannot afford delay. Yesh Atid’s 24 MKs provide Netanyahu the political backing he needs.
Hostages are dying, Israel is bleeding, and annexation was always a disastrous idea. This plan offers a way out — but only if we say ‘yes’ without the ‘but’ and move quickly to implement it.”
Democratic Party head Yair Golan, a harsh critic of the current government, tweeted that his left-wing opposition party will provide the government with support for the plan:
“Ending the war, returning the hostages, disarming Hamas, dismantling Hamas’s rule, you’d have to be an absolute hater of Israel to refuse Trump’s plan…. We will provide a full safety net for the plan. But we’ll be happy and celebrate only when we see all the hostages back home.”
Is this plan perfect? No, of course not, and it still faces two formidable obstacles:
- Hamas
- Far Right-Wing Ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Betzalel Smotrich
(With a third being an activist flotilla attempting to break the blockade around Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid, ostensibly.)
Hamas knows that this means its demise. President Trump has given the terror organization 3-4 days to accept the plan, “or else”. But the significance of this plan, and its significant backing, is that now pressure has been put squarely on Hamas, including from its so-called allies (Turkey and Qatar).
While Netanyahu’s sycophants in the Knesset praised the plan, Smotrich took the opportunity to disparage the plan as a “resounding diplomatic failure.” However, he did not say that his party would try to torpedo it. All eyes are on him, and Ben Gvir can collapse the Netanyahu government over the plan. Both have previously threatened to leave the coalition over ceasefire deals, which is why assurances from MK Yair Lapid and Yair Golan are critical.
The good news is that it is safe to assume that when the two extremist elements (and I’m not making Ben Gvir/Smotrich equivalent with Hamas), are against something, it probably means that it is the right thing to do.
As we enter into the holiest day of our year, we do so with great anticipation and tremendous trepidation. Yom Kippur reminds us that we cannot predict the future and that we live in a world with few assurances and no guarantees. We exist in a time when the end is not in sight—when the darkness remains—it is upon us to prevent despair from setting in.
On Yom Kippur, we have to embrace the possibility of “אולי”(Ulai) (“perhaps or maybe”). אולי is a theology of courage and of resilience. אולי is what it means to act even when the outcome is uncertain.
Maybe things will get better in the coming year, and we are called upon to act, to move forward, and to refuse to surrender to despair. The Talmud (Hagigah 4b) reminds us that the Jewish response to uncertainty is not paralysis, but courage. To say: We will act—כולי האי—and maybe—ואולי—the Holy One will bless our efforts and bring about something greater than we could imagine.
This is a moment not to be delusional and think that the road ahead will be easy, or that this plan will solve all of our problems. Still, it’s the best shot we have at the moment, so let’s embrace the uncertainty and do everything we can to bring it to reality.
Gmar Hatimah Tovah and Warm Wishes for being inscribed in the Book of Life and for a sweet and healthy New Year!
