President Trump shakes up the United Nations – but will it bring peace?

This past week Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has been in Washington. He is the first foreign head of state to be received in the White House by the new Administration. During his visit, President Trump has taken a number of important and drastic decisions affecting Israel and the Middle East. Not wasting any time in putting into action many of the promises made in last year’s election campaign, Trump has gone on the offensive to defend Israel and attack the myriad United Nations organizations and instruments that have propped up the failed “two states solution” for decades – and thereby blinded Western nations from understanding and confronting the real problem in the Middle East: state-sponsored Islamist terror.

A radically new future for the Gaza Strip

In a historic press conference last Tuesday in the White House, Trump announced that the United States intends to “take over,” “own” and “be responsible for” the reconstruction of Gaza. Taking everyone (including, it seems, even Netanyahu) by surprise, Trump said that the United States would redevelop Gaza’s waterfront as “the riviera of the Middle East.” He also said that U.S. troops would deploy to Gaza “if it’s necessary.”

These statements have triggered intense debate in the media. And condemnation from most Arab states – including Saudi Arabia, whom the US is courting to bring within the Abraham Accords. Some have lauded his new ideas, others have condemned his lack of morality and realism.

Trump’s bold proposal reflects his preparedness to make a realistic diagnosis of the problem, combined with audacity to propose daring remedies that challenge the established order of things and depart radically from conventional thinking.

This announcement also reflects the growing realisation that the only future for Gaza is one that breaks with the prevailing “two states” paradigm that has prevented creative thinking. The fact is that Gaza has become infested with terrorists, and the Palestinians have failed to govern themselves. Hamas and all likeminded militia to be destroyed, and others to take over.

In calling for “permanently” resettling Palestinians outside Gaza, Trump did not say whether he thought Palestinians would have a “right” to return to Gaza but asked why they would want to return given the level of destruction. “I don’t think people should be going back to Gaza,” Trump said. “I think that Gaza has been very unlucky for them. They’ve lived like hell. They live like you’re living in hell.”

“Trump’s statements have triggered intense debate.”

Earlier, Trump had called for Jordan and Egypt to take in Palestinians from Gaza. The reasoning seems to be that Egypt and Jordan are largely responsible for creating the Palestinian “refugee” problem (by attacking the fledging State of Israel in 1948), and they should therefore be incentivised to be part of the solution.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Israel and Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, from February 13-18, a State Department official said.

Time for UNRWA to be dismantled

The Administration has also decided not to renew its annual funding of the UN refugee organization UNRWA. The massive organization (over 30,000 employees) was established by the UN General Assembly in 1949 to provide assistance for Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes before and during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war that followed Israel’s establishment. It now serves some 5 million of their descendants in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, as well as 3 million more in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. The organization “has consistently shown itself to be anti-Semitic and anti-Israel,” the White House said. Israel has long been critical of UNRWA, saying it perpetuates the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by bestowing refugee status on the descendants of refugees — a designation not afforded to any other refugees in the world. Last October the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) adopted legislation terminating Israel’s ties with UNRWA; the legislation came into effect at the end of January 2025. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has been asked by the UN General Assembly to make a ruling on the legality of Israel’s decision.

“Israel has long been critical of UNRWA, saying it perpetuates the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by bestowing refugee status on the descendants of refugees”

“US withdraws from UN Human Rights Council “

Trump announced this week that the US will withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council. The United States also pulled out of the Human Rights Council in June 2018. The US ambassador to the UN at the time, Nikki Haley, accused the council of “chronic bias against Israel” and pointed to what she said were human rights abusers among its members.

Trump’s executive orders this week also called for a review of American involvement in the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and a review of US funding for the United Nations in light of “the wild disparities in levels of funding among different countries.”

As Times of Israel has reported, “the United States, with the world’s largest economy, pays 22 percent of the UN’s regular operating budget, with China the second-largest contributor. UNESCO will also “undergo a review under an expedited timeline due to its history of anti-Israel bias,” the White House said in a statement about the actions.”

US sanctions International Criminal Court

On Thursday, Trump signed an executive order authorizing economic and travel sanctions targeting people who work on International Criminal Court investigations of US citizens or US allies such as Israel, repeating action he took during his first term.

Trump’s order said the court in The Hague had “abused its power” by issuing the arrest warrant for Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Gallant.

The order includes a declaration of a national emergency to respond to what it describes as the court’s “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”

“The ICC’s recent actions against Israel and the United States set a dangerous precedent, directly endangering current and former United States personnel, including active service members of the Armed Forces, by exposing them to harassment, abuse and possible arrest,” the order states.

In this very chaotic and unpredictable time, let us pray for the leaders of the world. We should continue to pray for the Peace of Jerusalem – and that the Messiah of Israel will come to redeem and protect His people. Only then will there be true peace on earth, when the word of the Lord will go forth from Jerusalem (not New York – or Washington!).