Hopes for two-state solution lay buried in Israel with Kfir and Ariel Bibas
By Abraham Cooper
and Dr. Deborah Soffen
Real Clear Wire
As the murdered Bibas children and their mother are laid to rest, with dozens more Israeli hostages alive and dead still waiting to be reunited with their loved ones, it is brutally clear that the status quo in Gaza is over. It is time to realize that old policies spawn terrorism, violent antisemitism, and unending suffering for all concerned. President Trump is clear on that and is ready to act to change the facts on the ground in Gaza forever. Expect the UN, especially the Hamas members and supporters in UNRWA, to resist change at any cost.
The Bibases have been laid to rest, leaving a husband and father, along with the entire House of Israel, to mourn. Buried in tiny coffins are the remains of Kfir, age 9 months, and 4-year-old Ariel, who were strangled by Hamas. But also buried are any hopes of a two-state solution. The Palestinian Authority did not order the execution of the babies, parents, and grandparents on Oct. 7, but it gleefully rewards every Palestinian who murders or maims Jews with hefty financial bonuses.
Unless and until a different Palestinian leadership emerges, unless and until generations of Palestinian children are taught by their teachers to pursue peace and mutual tolerance with their Jewish neighbors, there will never be a Palestinian ruling entity that could threaten Israelis again. Never.
That is why it is time for the 60 donor nations to the Palestinians to take a long look in the mirror and ask themselves – what has their open checkbook achieved after seven decades? Violence, virulent antisemitism, terrorism, and corruption. President Trump’s out-of-the-box plan for Gaza and the Palestinians may be unorthodox, but it presents a vision with light at the end of Gaza’s tunnels and hope for a better life.
Hamas, with its backers in Iran, Qatar, the United Nations, the International Red Cross, the ICJ, and ICC, has created an alternate reality that flips reality on its head: Hamas is the victim. The real victim – Israel – is cast as the Nazi vampire child-killers. Hamas continues to count on Al Jazeera, the BBC, and other legacy media to demonize the Jewish state and cast terrorists as journalists and other innocent victims. There is a social media universe – now further empowered by AI, that spouts anti-Israel and antisemitic venom 24/7, helping with recruitment, donations, and delegitimization of the Jewish state. Even after the burial of the Bibas children, there are still too many elite universities and academics around the world who remain inurned and willfully deaf, dumb, and blind to the wails of Israeli mothers. They willingly leverage their hallowed institutions as props for the terrorists’ narratives and goals.
This is the state of the Holy Land as the world awaits the day after in Gaza, in Lebanon, in Syria, and yes, in Iran.
The world is discovering that mocking President Trump’s ideas is not a winning strategy.
For there to be hope for the future, Gaza can no longer serve as a launching pad of terrorism and missiles against Israel’s heartland.
Palestinians should be offered a path to a dignified, nonviolent future. It will not be in Gaza. Oct. 7 will never be forgotten, and the crimes against the Bibas family and thousands of other peaceful Israelis will neither be forgotten nor forgiven.
President Trump has the right idea. Our democratic allies in London, Paris, Berlin and Tokyo should work closely with him to help ensure a better future for all. The alternatives are too shocking to consider.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper is the director of Global Social Action for the Simon Wiesenthal Center(SWC) and former chair of the U.S. Commission for International Freedom. Dr. Deborah Soffen is a pediatrician and the SWC Global Advocate for Women and Children.