Israeli Coalition Banks on Trump’s Return While Gaza Burns

A new billboard campaign in Israel reveals how some political factions are already preparing for a potential Trump presidency, even as the current conflict demands immediate solutions.

The Campaign’s Bold Gambit

The Israeli Coalition for Regional Security has launched a nationwide billboard campaign that reads more like a political time capsule than a response to current realities. By featuring Donald Trump alongside Benjamin Netanyahu and various Arab leaders, the campaign essentially places a bet on the 2024 U.S. presidential election while the Gaza conflict continues to rage. The slogan “Yes to Trump’s Plan – GET IT DONE” invokes a diplomatic framework that technically no longer exists, as Trump left office in January 2021.

This campaign represents a fascinating intersection of nostalgia politics and strategic positioning. The Abraham Accords, Trump’s signature Middle East achievement, normalized relations between Israel and several Arab states including the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco. By invoking these accords now, the Coalition appears to be suggesting that only a Trump restoration could expand this framework to include a Gaza solution—a remarkable claim given that the original accords notably sidestepped the Palestinian issue entirely.

Reading Between the Billboard Lines

The inclusion of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Indonesia’s president in the campaign imagery suggests an ambitious vision that goes well beyond anything Trump actually proposed during his presidency. Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim nation, has historically conditioned any relationship with Israel on Palestinian statehood. The visual rhetoric here implies a grand bargain that would somehow satisfy Palestinian demands while expanding Israel’s diplomatic reach—a circle that has proven impossible to square for decades.

What’s particularly striking is the timing. With Gaza in crisis and international pressure mounting for an immediate ceasefire, this campaign effectively argues for waiting until January 2025 at the earliest for a new American approach. It’s a message that likely resonates with Netanyahu’s base, which has long preferred Republican presidents and their typically more permissive approach to Israeli security policies.

The Deeper Political Calculus

This billboard campaign reveals the extent to which Israeli political factions are internationalizing their domestic debates. By explicitly endorsing not just American mediation but a specific American leader who isn’t currently in office, the Coalition is making a remarkable statement about Israel’s diplomatic dependencies. The campaign suggests that some Israeli groups view their country’s future as inextricably tied to American electoral cycles rather than to regional dynamics or bilateral negotiations.

The reference to “Trump’s Plan” likely alludes to the 2020 “Peace to Prosperity” proposal, which Palestinians rejected outright as it permitted Israeli annexation of significant West Bank territory. That this plan is being resurrected as a solution to Gaza—a different conflict with different stakeholders—demonstrates either strategic creativity or a fundamental misreading of why previous peace efforts failed.

Perhaps most tellingly, the campaign’s existence suggests that some Israeli political actors believe the current U.S. administration’s approach to Gaza is insufficient or misguided. By preemptively aligning with a potential Trump return, they’re signaling dissatisfaction with Biden-era policies that have emphasized humanitarian concerns alongside Israeli security needs.

Conclusion

The billboard campaign raises profound questions about the relationship between domestic Israeli politics and American electoral cycles. Is Israel’s security strategy now so dependent on Washington that political factions must openly campaign for specific U.S. presidential candidates? And what does it mean for the immediate crisis in Gaza when influential groups are essentially advocating for a solution that cannot arrive for at least another year—and only if American voters cooperate?