Well, it seems that the Trump administration landed some kind of deal with Netanyahu and Hamas. Kudos to Trump. It took the intervention of a bigger a$$hole than the a$$hole Netanyahu to move the dial. In an opinion article by Shira Efron of the Rand Corporation in her opinion piece in the New York Times lays out some high-level thinking on the deal. (A version of this article appears in print on Oct. 13, 2025, Section A, Page 20 of the New York edition with the headline: Trump’s Peace Plan Dismantled Netanyahu’s Vision for Gaza).

From a Rand Corporation newsletter: “In Foreign Affairs, Efron says that the “tactical brilliance” of the U.S. plan is that its ambiguity affords each side a narrative of triumph. However, that deliberate vagueness cuts both ways. Sustained pressure on all parties will be required moving forward, she writes: “The most demanding work begins now.”

In the NYT piece, Efron concludes: “… that Israel’s longest major war in history, hostages held captive for over two years in unbearable conditions and many dying in captivity, some 2,000 Israeli casualties, more than 67,000 Palestinian deaths according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, Gaza reduced to rubble, Israel’s international isolation — all of it led not to the promised vision but to a negotiated settlement resurrecting the very ideas Mr. Netanyahu spent his career opposing. Their defeat is a victory for Israelis, Palestinians and others in the region who seek an alternative to prolonged bloodshed.” Shira Efron, New York Times, 10/13/25.

Shira Efron is the distinguished Israel policy chair and a senior fellow at RAND.