Herzog says feelings of Jordan, Egypt must be taken into account when looking at Gaza’s future

President Isaac Herzog tells Fox News that US President Donald Trump’s proposition for the Gaza Strip, which includes relocating its 2.3 million residents and then redeveloping it into “the Riviera of the Middle East,” is the first “new idea” to have been put forward in years, but appears to stop short of endorsing it.

“I believe that President Trump ignited a major process that I hope will bring real change because we must change the reality on the ground,” Herzog tells Fox’s Maria Bartiromo.

Asked whether he supports the plan, which Trump pitched in his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week, he stresses the importance of working in cooperation with Israel’s regional allies.

“Both Jordan and Egypt, and the Abraham Accords partners…they are partners that must be listened to, must be discussed with, we have to honor their [feelings] as well, and see how we build a plan that is sustainable for the future,” Herzog says.

He says, however, that he supports ensuring “that Gaza changes ownership” out of Hamas’s hands.

It has to be ensured that “these terrorists, these thugs, these barbaric people do not repeat the same old control that [creates] such huge suffering for their own people,” Herzog says. “There has to be a future for the children of Gaza and the children of Israel…and only under the leadership of President Trump do we see a new idea come forward.”

He calls for Israel’s neighbors to present their own suggestions “if you have any better idea.”