The Trump administration wants to pivot U.S. military assets away from the Middle East to Asia. That’s good. But, without a major course correction on Gaza (which appears nowhere in sight), that pivot won’t happen. Even if a new ceasefire emerges, Trump has gone all in on an Israeli occupation of Gaza that experts argue, and history shows, will bog down Israel and, in turn, bog down the United States in the Middle East given the U.S. role as Israel’s main security guarantor.
Given this reality, the big question now is how does the United States limit the damage to its own security interests in Gaza going forward? The answer: avoid getting sucked directly into the conflict.
That starts by turning aside two bad proposals—U.S. roles as caretaker in Gaza and major benefactor for Israel’s new Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF)—currently being debated inside the Trump administration. Both roles are a slippery slope for the United States to land in yet another forever war in the Middle East, further detracting from bigger U.S. challenges elsewhere. Trump needs to reject these ideas to keep America out of war in Gaza.
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