Why Jesus Is the Only Path to Lasting Peace in Gaza
President Trump’s recent statements about Gaza have raised many questions: What will be in Gaza? Who will be in control? Who will rebuild? Where will Gazans live? Who will be responsible for ensuring that neither the physical terrorist infrastructure that Hamas built nor the genocidal Islamic ideology that it represents will ever threaten Israel or the well-being of Gaza’s Palestinian Arabs?
Trump’s discussion of evacuating Gazans and the US controlling Gaza has received wide celebration and criticism. Whether these were meant as a negotiating tactic or new US policy, it has surely opened the door for out of the box solutions that are needed.
One thing that’s clear is the idea of a “two-state solution” has been debunked as it would gift Palestinian Arabs a state unilaterally as a consequence of their decades of terror and incitement rather than through negotiations and recognizing Israel’s legitimacy. It’s foolish to link that creating a Palestinian state would or should be a foundation for a broader peace with the rest of the Arab world. It’s foolish because it hasn’t ever worked despite numerous opportunities going back to 1947. The root of the problem is not the creation of a Palestinian state but their acceptance of the existence of the Jewish state.
Other than a two-state solution being an inappropriate reward for terror, it’s impractical because the Palestinian Authority (PA) has no authority over the areas that it was created to govern. The PA is inept, corrupt, and only slightly less hostile to Israel’s existence than Hamas.
Some suggest other Arab states should take responsibility for Gaza’s future, something none are willing to do publicly. It’s not a viable solution because, for decades, much of the Arab world has funded the Hamas infrastructure, turned a blind eye to and even facilitated the smuggling of weapons into Gaza, and continues to use the status of Palestinian Arabs against Israel rather than seek a genuine solution. No single Arab or Islamic state can be trusted or relied upon to take responsibility. The last thing Israel or Gazans need is the rebuilding of their extremist Islamic ideology and the resumption of terror. If there’s ever hope for a lasting peace, there needs to be an overhaul of more than the physical infrastructure. There needs to be a radical change of heart.
This, of course, assumes that two million Gazans are not relocated to other countries, something that many would resist, that no other country wants, that would be destabilizing for any country which would take them in, and would not address the root of the problem: jihadi Islamic extremism, with which they have been indoctrinated for a century.
With no good solutions based on past failed models and unreliable partners, it’s time to think out of the box, to look at a solution not through a prism of how we want things to be, but based on reality. I have a solution that’s as radical coming from an Orthodox Jew as it is one, perhaps the only one, that can bring true peace.
The solution for long-term peace in Gaza is Jesus.
In the past, one might think that the Arab-Israel conflict was about land. It’s not. It’s a religious conflict fueled by an Islamic ideology that the sole Jewish state is, by definition, illegitimate. Islamists like Hamas and their Iranian patrons, which embody that ideology, seek Israel’s annihilation, not to live side by side with it.
The solution is to counteract that ideology, to upend the failures that extremist Islam has caused in Gaza.
With widespread destruction of Hamas in Gaza and the suffering that Gazans have endured as human shields at the hands of Hamas, it’s legitimate for them to see that theirs is an ideology that offers only suffering, and that their god, Allah, has failed them.
To change the hearts of two million Palestinian Arabs in Gaza from revering an intolerant, hateful, extremist, and genocidal ideology, Christians must play a pivotal role in Gaza’s physical and spiritual restoration. With exposure to Christians and a Christianity that reveres the God of Israel, Gazans will begin to love the people of Israel and understand the prophetic significance of the State of Israel: that Israel is the cornerstone of the solution and not the foundation of their problem.
To implement this, 100,000-200,000 Christians need to take responsibility for Gaza’s complete reconstruction. This will include professionals in engineering, construction, and all aspects of human welfare. They will spend months, if not years, among the population, helping rebuild their lives and creating a foundation upon which to build their future. When Gazans are offered a diet of Christian love to counteract the buffet of hate that they have been force-fed, they might realize the opportunity to prosper.
Gaza’s destruction has been commensurate with how deeply Hamas embedded itself among the population and within civilian infrastructure such as schools, mosques, hospitals, United Nations facilities, and residential areas.
Rebuilding needs to start from under the ground and up. Anything left of the maze of terrorist tunnels, along with the evil Islamic ideology that birthed Hamas originally and nurtured from Iran all these decades, needs to be purged. Perhaps this time, Gazans will want to get it right. If rebuilt properly, purging the terrorists, Gaza can become a thriving, peaceful society.
Christians will bring the greatest ability to rebuild Gaza by both genuinely loving and caring about Israel and its safety and also about the well-being of Palestinian Arabs. They will not allow the restoration of a massive terrorist infrastructure under their noses as the United Nations, Red Cross, and other “humanitarian” groups have allowed over the decades, both because it is wrong and because it is self-destructive.
Nobody wants to live in peace more than the Jewish people. But to really bring lasting peace, we need Gazans who love and embrace us and want to live in peace as much as us, or at least who do not want to kill us. The key to the true Solution for Peace in Gaza is from Christians.
It may sound crazy for an Orthodox Israeli Jew to propose peace based on the transformation of our neighbors living in spiritual darkness to become theological allies. With anger among Gazans toward Hamas growing, if presented with a viable alternative, one based on morality that can bring prosperity and hope, the ground is fertile for such an opportunity and true peace.
For information, please visit www.solutionforpeaceingaza.com, and be part of the solution.
Photo Courtesy: ©Getty Images/Joel Carillet
Published Date: February 18, 2024
The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of the Salem Web Network.
Jonathan Feldstein is president of the Genesis 123 Foundation whose mission is to build bridges between Jews and Christians. 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.
Recently he published the highly acclaimed book, Israel the Miracle, which makes a great gift for Chanukah and Christmas.
He can be reached at firstpersonisrael@gmail.com.
Originally published February 18, 2025.
