Did Netanyahu know? How Trump’s stunning Gaza takeover plan came about

This week, U.S. President Donald Trump did what he does best, smashing decade-old paradigms of Middle East policy with a new idea whose details remain shrouded with questions: The U.S. will take over Gaza, while its inhabitants will move somewhere else, possibly to return after reconstruction.

The states in the region were so shocked that only Saudi Arabia could muster an immediate response, while the rest later followed its lead.

However, one of the most interesting questions raised by Trump’s surprise move is who knew about it before, and particularly: Was the Israeli government surprised by it?

Several indications point to the fact that Israel knew the general gist of the idea, particularly the goal of relocating at least large portions of the Gazan population but was surprised by the scope of what the president proposed, especially U.S. “ownership” of the area.

Several commentators pointed out that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looked surprised when Trump declared the U.S. would take “long-term ownership” of the enclave.

When asked about the plan during the joint press conference, the prime minister could only offer general, vague comments, indicating he was, indeed, caught by surprise.

He lauded Trump’s “willingness to puncture conventional thinking,” noted how Trump had taken his own goals “to a much higher level,” and emphasized “it's worthwhile really pursuing this avenue.”

The next day, in an interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News, Netanyahu, again, appeared to praise the thought process behind the idea, which he called “the first good idea that I’ve heard,” rather than endorsing the actual plan of having the U.S. control Gaza for the foreseeable future.

Finally, in an interview with Israel’s Channel 14, Netanyahu denied he had been surprised, noting, “I knew about this general direction, but I think it was the world who was surprised.”

The prime minister also apparently adopted the plan as Israel’s new policy for a “day after,” which he stressed would only come after Hamas was removed from the area.

Several recent media reports, while only citing anonymous sources, supported the impression that Netanyahu knew something was coming, but was caught off guard by the scope of Trump’s plan.

Almost two weeks ago, when Trump began to talk about the possibility of relocating Gazans to Egypt or Jordan, and reports said the U.S. was exploring sending them to other nations like Indonesia or Albania, Channel 12’s Amit Segal cited senior Israeli sources who said these ideas were “part of a broader process.”

However, the idea of U.S. control over Gaza seems to have been brought to Netanyahu’s attention only shortly before Trump's declaration.

This week, Segal reported that the plan was brought up in a meeting with Trump’s closest advisors, including Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, who then relayed the plan to Netanyahu before the prime minister met with Trump privately.

The report emphasized that the core idea of the plan is to reconstruct Gaza under U.S. oversight, not to annex the territory. U.S. officials have since reiterated that no American troops will be deployed on the ground.

In addition, Segal reported that while Netanyahu’s entourage was “euphoric” after the declaration, they were still confused and didn’t know what impact it would have on the continuation of the hostage deal, whose second phase is due to begin soon.

American media roughly confirmed these reports. According to The New York Times (NYT), Trump only told Netanyahu about his intention to announce the “ownership” of Gaza shortly before the press conference.

The report suggests that Netanyahu may have been aware of the plan but was caught off guard by its public declaration immediately after the meeting with Trump.

The NYT report also stated that the U.S. State Department and the Pentagon had not been preparing for such a plan but noted that Trump had been “privately” talking about the U.S. owning the area “for weeks,” particularly after Witkoff returned from his visit to Gaza, showing the president pictures and describing the living conditions there.

The Wall Street Journal also reported that some of Trump’s aides were shocked by his announcement while acknowledging the president had “been quietly weighing” whether the U.S. should take a leading role in the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

The report even noted that he had spoken with Middle Eastern leaders about this, which, again, strongly indicates Netanyahu knew about the idea.

The WSJ report confirmed that Witkoff’s visit to Gaza was a catalyst for Trump’s plans. It is “uninhabitable,” Witkoff is said to have told Trump.

In the days leading up to the declaration, Trump told some of his closest aides about the idea and his intention to announce it in the press conference, WSJ reported.

Taken together, all available information points to the fact that the broad idea of encouraging some, if not all, of Gaza’s population to relocate either temporarily or permanently while the area is reconstructed, has been in the works for a long time.

The Israeli government and other regional powers apparently knew about it, with Arab nations declaring their joint opposition to the plan even before Trump’s dramatic announcement.

It appears that the concept of 'U.S. ownership,' whatever its final details may be, was only solidified by Trump after Witkoff's return from Gaza, with Netanyahu being informed shortly before its announcement.

What is certain is that the Israeli government has quickly adopted the idea as its new “Day After” policy, and already ordered the IDF to prepare for such a scenario.