President Trump, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and the Path to Real Peace

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech before the United Nations last week was a master class in courage and clarity. He wasn't speaking "truth to power" - the General Assembly has no power. He was speaking truth in the face of hypocrisy. The same chamber that cheers dictators and terrorist sympathizers couldn't bring itself to listen to the elected leader of Israel, the one democracy in the Middle East that has stood tall against terror for generations. Netanyahu wasn't there to beg for applause. He was there to remind the world: Israel will not be intimidated - not by Iran, not by Hamas, and certainly not by the hollow theatrics of UN delegates who staged a walkout.

Those walkouts were shameful. And worse, they mirrored the cowardice of Europe's political class. Emmanuel Macron lectures Israel about "proportionality" while France's streets are flooded with antisemitic mobs. Olaf Scholz in Germany wrings his hands about "restraint" even as Berlin sees riots and migrant gangs chanting "Death to Israel." Rishi Sunak in the UK worries about "escalation" while London has become a staging ground for some of the largest antisemitic demonstrations in Europe since the 1930s.

These leaders can't even protect their own citizens, yet they want to dictate to Israel how to survive? The hypocrisy is staggering.

As always President Donald Trump is charting a real course. He unveiled a 20-point Gaza Peace Plan that demands courage, discipline, and results. It calls for an immediate ceasefire only if Hamas releases every hostage within 72 hours, alive or deceased. It creates a transitional Palestinian technocratic authority, overseen by a multinational "Board of Peace" chaired by President Trump himself and including figures such as Britain's Tony Blair. The plan ensures demilitarization and deradicalization of Gaza - no rockets, no smuggling, no tunnels - with international stabilization forces to back it up. It provides for massive humanitarian and reconstruction aid, rebuilding homes, hospitals,

and utilities, but only if Gaza is no longer a terror base. And most importantly, Trump made it clear: if Hamas refuses, Israel has America's full support to finish the job militarily.

Compare this to Europe's "solutions." Endless lectures. Half-hearted condemnations. Empty words about "peace processes" while their own capitals are rocked by terror attacks and antisemitic mobs. Paris saw mass killings at the Bataclan. Brussels' airport was bombed. London's subway was blown apart. Berlin is now home to migrant riots. Appeasement has failed in Europe, just as it has failed in Gaza.

Auburn's own Coach Bruce Pearl reminds us of the pitfalls of most two-state solutions. They sound good in theory, but in practice one of those "states" has almost always been controlled by leaders who openly call for Israel's destruction. Giving legitimacy, money, and land to people sworn to wipe out the Jewish state is not peace - it's suicide by treaty. Coach Pearl's candor cuts through the false promises that diplomats recycle year after year.

As Speaker Newt Gingrich once reminded us, "History is not kind to those who choose comfort over courage." Netanyahu chose courage at the UN. President Trump has chosen courage in confronting the corruption of global institutions and laying down a clear path for peace. Bruce Pearl has chosen courage in declaring that Israel's survival depends on rejecting illusions and facing reality.

America and Israel are bound together by shared history, shared values, and a shared destiny. Those who walk out, those who bow to mobs, those who seek appeasement - they will be remembered as cowards and footnotes. Those who stand firm will be remembered as builders of freedom.

Now is the time for America to choose. We stand with President Trump. We stand with Bibi Netanyahu. We stand with Bruce Pearl. We stand with the truth. And we stand with Israel.

Perry O. Hooper Jr. is a former state representative, a current member of the Alabama Republican state executive committee, the 2016 Trump victory chair, and a widely published political columnist.

Opinions expressed are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Alabama Gazette staff or publishers.