From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, February 5, 2025
Lapid: We need to ‘study the details to understand’ Trump’s plan for Gaza
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Responding to US President Donald Trump’s announcement that he wants the United States to “take over” and “own” the Gaza Strip, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid states that it was “a good press conference for the State of Israel.”
“We will have to study the details to understand what the plan is in Gaza,” he tells Army Radio, following the joint Netanyahu-Trump press conference — adding that he intends to present “a supplementary plan to the Americans” during his own planned Washington visit at the end of the month.
“The role of the Israeli leadership is to present plans, not just wait for the Americans,” he says.
Turning to the hostage deal, Lapid insists that it must be “completed until the end, including phase two.”
He notes that “Trump promised that the deal will continue and the hostages will return. Netanyahu’s statements about Hamas collapsing at the end of the deal were unnecessary. The return of the hostages is the most important thing, and the president said so too.”
Lapid goes on to praise Trump for the Abraham Accords, stating that he deserved a Nobel for brokering them and that “if there is a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia, he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for it” as well.
However, Lapid takes issue with Trump’s decision to use sanctions against Iran, arguing that Tehran “is weaker than ever” and that “we may have missed an opportunity to attack Iran.”
The Times of Israel Community.