by Ron Ben Yishai at Ynet
It is hard to imagine the Gaza Strip becoming the tiny and glittering country in East Asia, but it is the vision that Netanyahu is trying to advance behind the scenes. The idea: complete detachment from Israel and connection to the world through a maritime corridor to Cyprus and a land crossing to Egypt, tens of billions of dollars to be spent on the restoration of destruction and tourism and high-tech ventures, and civilian rule based on international bodies. The buds can be seen on the beach where a pier for humanitarian aid was erected. But it will take a lot of persuasion and execution efforts to make the dream a reality
The Day After” is already here. It turns out that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a strategy that he has been working on in recent months through small steps and a “successful” method”. This strategy is intended not only to solve the Gaza problem, but also to lay the foundations for a long-term settlement to resolve the Israeli conflict ־ Palestinian according to the right-wing school ־ Israeli center. However, Netanyahu is unwilling to present to the public in Israel, to the US government and not even to the expanded Cabinet the outline of his plan for fear that this will result in the dissolution of his coalition, The conflict with Washington will worsen and Israel will lose the support of the Arab states that have relations with it over or below the table. To understand his intentions, his political partners in Jerusalem and the Allies in Washington need to listen carefully to the principled “Lewis” he stated and analyze the events in the field and in the political arena. We have brought here the highlights of the outline and detail the way the prime minister intends to implement it.
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By all signs, Netanyahu wants the Gaza Strip to become a separate entity, a kind of Singapore-style, only demilitarized, connected to the wider world in two – terrestrial and marine corridors. These corridors will allow Gazans to move relatively freely to and from the Strip, to maintain trade and economic relations with foreign countries and to fish for its coastal waters, all without moving to Israel. However, Israel will oversee traffic in both corridors to prevent the smuggling of weapons and raw materials that will enable weapons production and the establishment of terrorist infrastructure.
Civilian administration in the Strip, including law enforcement, public services, tax collection, etc., will be operated by local residents under the supervision of a council or organization to be established by international consent. This body will derive its authority from the decision of the Security Council or a recognized regional organization with Israeli consent. Netanyahu wants this body membership to be the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, the United Nations and possibly Bahrain. These countries and bodies have an interest in rehabilitating the Gaza Strip, pockets deep enough to fund the reconstruction, and a desire to maintain the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip and prevent terrorist activity so that investments do not go down the drain. Qatar, which supports Hamas, does not necessarily meet the latest criterion. Netanyahu would very much like U.S. representatives to sit on the “International Read Committee” to conduct the restoration of the Gaza Strip to ensure that regional partnership representatives do not deviate from the outline agreed with Israel. However, Israel does not want American soldiers to operate in the Strip itself – Boots on the Ground – so that it is not accused of American public opinion as having dragged them to die for it. In principle, Netanyahu aims for Saudi Arabia to be a partner in this body as well. But it will happen – if at all – only if the regional vision of the Biden administration, which is conditional on Israeli agreement to resolve the two countries, is fulfilled…