Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday released a utopian plan for a rebuilt Gaza called “Gaza 2035.”
The Prime Minister’s Office published a 9-page PowerPoint file describing a future where Gaza is de-radicalized from Islamism, transformed into a trade hub of prosperity and innovation and integrated into the Middle East’s economy.
The “Gaza 2035” plan seeks to leverage Gaza’s geopolitical role in trade routes between Cairo and Baghdad, and Europe and Yemen.
The documents lay out three steps to return Gaza to self-governance and economic growth.
The first step would see 12 months of humanitarian aid, where Israel would slowly create safe areas in Gaza from north to south.
Second, a 5-10 year reconstruction process supervised by a coalition of Arab states (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan, and Morocco).
“The plan is to move Israeli security responsibility to Israel, while the Arab Coalition will create a multilateral body called the Gaza Rehabilitation Authority (GRA) to oversee the reconstruction efforts and manage the Strip’s finances,” the Jerusalem Post reported.
“The GRA is to be run by Gazan Palestinians and will take responsibility for managing the safe areas. This will be done in coordination with the implementation of a ‘Marshall Plan’ and a deradicalization program.”
The third stage, termed “Self-governance”, would see Israel retain the right to act against “security threats.”
“Power would slowly be transferred to either a local Gaza government or a unified Palestinian government (including the West Bank). However, this is contingent on the successful deradicalization and demilitarization of the Gaza Strip and will be subject to agreement by all parties,” the JPost reported.
At that point, the Palestinians would fully manage Gaza independently and join the Abraham Accords, although the plan does not explicitly call for the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state.
The utopian plan comes amid widespread demonstrations against Israel from pro-Palestinian protesters on college campuses who argue the Jewish state is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.
Democrats have also called for Biden to take a firmer stance against Israel over its heavy-handed tactics against Hamas in the Gaza Strip in the form of indiscriminate bombing of buildings and humanitarian sites.
It remains to be seen if the Palestinians will accept such a plan given they’ve rejected numerous proposals by Israel in the past, including a so-called “two-state solution.”
