Likud Knesset member and former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon published a five-point plan for the “day after” in Gaza in an article he authored last week in Newsweek.
“When it comes to governance of Gaza, it is unnecessary and unwise to revert to past mistakes,” Danon wrote. “For some in my country, this vision is not achievable, and it is important to take their considerations seriously. Yet we should recall that doubts were similarly voiced after World War II in relation to the denazification of Germany and the deradicalization of Japan … both nations have emerged as leaders across all international benchmarks.
The plan proposed by Danon includes the following:
1. Complete demilitarization of Gaza, including removal of all terror elements and full freedom of action for the IDF to respond to all security threats.
2. Creation of a three-kilometer buffer zone in Gaza along the border with Israel, with no entry permitted to anyone.
3. Improvement of the Rafah Crossing on the Gaza side to incorporate new technology and capabilities, to be supervised by international forces that will include Israel.
4. Offering Gazans the option of voluntary emigration to countries willing to accept them, to alleviate economic strain and infuse foreign currency into the local economy via family members remaining in the enclave.
5. Unequivocal renunciation of incitement and terrorism by Gaza residents, with an international framework overseeing management of all civilian aspects of life, including health, education and law enforcement.
Danon’s plan is not dissimilar to the goals already announced by Likud chair and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has repeatedly said Gaza will have to be demilitarized and the Israel Defense Forces retaining full freedom of movement to ensure security, once the Hamas terror organization has been eradicated and the hostages abducted by the group are rescued.
Israel will not allow the enclave to ever again be a threat to the Jewish State, he said, emphasizing that for that reason, the Palestinian Authority also cannot control Gaza.
“I will not allow anyone who educates his children to destroy Israel to enter Gaza after the fighting. Without a revolution in the civil administration in Gaza it is a matter of time before Gaza returns to terrorism,” Netanyahu said last month.
“I think the Palestinian Authority at this point in time is not able to take the responsibility for Gaza,” he added.
The Palestinian Authority government in Ramallah continues to pay its citizens a guaranteed monthly salary as a reward for attacking and murdering Israelis, during and following their incarceration in Israeli prisons. The families of those who die during the attacks, or even the attempt, receive the lifetime monthly payments instead.
