PIOUS HOPES FROM FRIEDMAN. PALESTINE MUST BE DESTROYED FOR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE Opinion Thomas L. Friedman Can the Trump Peace Plan Overcome Unprecedented Cruelty? Sept. 29, 2025 Listen to this article · 11:04 min Learn more By Thomas L. Friedman Opinion Columnist President Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza is a smart plan for turning a bomb crater into a launchpad for peace — for taking a terrible, terrible war in Gaza and leveraging it to not only create a new foundation for solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but also for normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria and maybe even Iraq as well. If it succeeds, it could even set in motion a much-needed transformation in Iran. Hats off to its key architects: Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff and Tony Blair. Without their efforts, this initiative would not have been born. But while it may be unprecedented in its creativity, it meets a moment unprecedented in its cruelty, which makes it a long s...