The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) on Wednesday issued qualified support for President Trump’s Gaza plan, with concerns — praising its promise to free hostages while warning of concessions that could empower terrorists, but adding that if the deal is properly interpreted and carried out, it has “the potential to dramatically change the landscape and increase the safety and security of Israel and its people, and improve the lives of Jews, Arabs, Muslims, and Christians in the Middle East.”
In its statement, ZOA National President Morton Klein — who has headed the nation’s oldest pro-Israel organization for over two decades — laid out both the group’s gratitude for Trump and Netanyahu’s efforts and its concerns over several provisions of the plan.
“The ZOA is thrilled at the prospect that – at the outset of the plan – all the remaining innocent Jewish hostages will be freed from the blood-soaked hands of the evil Arab-Islamic Hamas monsters, who committed unspeakable atrocities, and whose Charter calls for the murder of every Jew and Israel’s destruction,” Klein said. He thanked Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for their “unceasing efforts” to secure the release of the hostages and welcomed Trump’s pledge to back Israel “if Hamas rejects this plan, or if the Palestinian Arabs and the Palestinian Authority do not fulfill their obligations of reformation and deradicalization required under this plan.”
As Jews worldwide prepared for Yom Kippur, Klein said the organization hoped the plan would strengthen Jewish unity and bring “better days for all of Israel and the Jewish people.”
The plan, unveiled Monday at the White House, calls for Hamas to release all hostages within 72 hours, disarm, and vacate power in exchange for an end to the war. Trump pledged that Netanyahu would have his “full backing to finish the job of destroying the threat of Hamas” if the terror group rejects the deal. Hamas has not yet responded.
While praising the effort, the ZOA pointed to risks that it said must not be overlooked. Chief among them is the planned release of 1,950 terrorists, including 250 convicted murderers. “In the past, many of these released Arab terrorists went back to murdering Jews. Forty of them became leaders of Hamas. It also increases and inspires the likelihood of more kidnappings of Jews,” Klein said.
The organization also raised questions about what it described as “hostile-to-Israel Tony Blair having an important oversight role,” and about Palestinian technocrats taking on responsibilities in Gaza. “So-called Palestinian technocrats have historically and invariably been terrorists,” Klein said. He also objected to provisions that could allow Hamas leaders to remain in Gaza without accountability for what he called their “Nazi-like barbarism and atrocities.”
Klein welcomed the plan’s commitment to deradicalization but urged clarity on how far it will go. “It is unclear to us if this will include the strenuous, drastic, long-term programs and efforts needed to re-educate an entire population brought up from infancy to hate and aspire to murder Jews and Christians,” he said. If pursued fully, he added, “that would be a historic game-changer, and could bring real peace.”
The ZOA outlined what it sees as minimum steps for deradicalization, including ending the Palestinian Authority’s “pay-to-slay” policy, rewriting antisemitic textbooks, stripping terrorist names from schools and streets, dismissing imams who preach hatred, and deleting calls for Israel’s destruction from the Fatah and Hamas charters.
At the same time, Klein said economic development and interfaith initiatives are unlikely to address the root of the conflict. “This has been a religious/Koranic war against Israel’s very existence. It has not been about economics or a state,” he said, citing the Palestinians’ rejection of peace offers from the 1937 British Peel Commission to the 1947 UN partition plan. “Improving Palestinian Arabs’ material lives doesn’t impact their Islamist hatred of and violence against Jews.”
ZOA also emphasized that Israel must not repeat the mistakes of its 2005 Gaza withdrawal, which Klein described as a “disaster that resulted in over 30,000 rockets launched at Israel.” He said Israel should retain a permanent security buffer zone, continue to control the Philadelphi Corridor with Egypt, and maintain aid inspections. He noted that Israel has already facilitated more than two million tons of aid into Gaza on over 100,000 trucks while ensuring security checks.
The organization also expressed concern over provisions giving the United Nations a role in aid distribution, warning this could revive what Klein called the “Hamas-infested” UNRWA, accused of aiding the October 7 massacre and spreading antisemitism in its schools. He said the plan should not obstruct the U.S.-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has delivered 176 million meals in Gaza.
While relieved that the plan does not include agreement to a Palestinian state, Klein voiced reservations about its reference to “a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.” He cautioned that “a Palestinian state would be a terror enclave and a mortal danger to Israel, and is overwhelmingly opposed by the Israeli people, officials, and the Knesset,” adding that “the aspiration of the Palestinian Arabs is not a state; it is Israel’s destruction.”
Klein also questioned whether Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, or regional powers such as Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey can be trusted to uphold the deal. Still, he said that given the rise of antisemitism worldwide, “it is now best to move forward and give the Palestinian Arabs yet another chance for peace.” If the plan is carried out as intended, he concluded, it has “the potential to dramatically change the landscape and increase the safety and security of Israel and its people, and improve the lives of Jews, Arabs, Muslims, and Christians in the Middle East.”
Trump’s initiative has already won support from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Qatar, and Egypt. The Palestinian Authority, which rejected Trump’s 2020 plan, has also welcomed the proposal.
Founded in 1897, the Zionist Organization of America is the nation’s oldest pro-Israel group and has long been a prominent supporter of Trump administration policies.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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