This week, the Resistance in Gaza released American-Israeli dual citizen Eidan Alexander, who had been serving in a foreign army, as a goodwill gesture toward the Trump administration. Initial examinations by the Red Cross and Israeli doctors confirmed that Alexander is in good health. The freed soldier appeared well-nourished and physically fit—an image that starkly contrasts with the dire reality in Gaza, where children are starving and the elderly are dying from preventable diseases due to Israel’s blockade on medical aid.

The release was possible only because the current administration, unlike President Biden’s, did not fully defer to Israeli demands and instead engaged in direct negotiations with the Resistance in Gaza.

However, as with previous gestures, this goodwill risks emboldening a racist Israeli government that has shown little respect for past agreements. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to claim that Alexander’s release resulted from “military pressure”—a euphemism for Israel’s starvation tactics and indiscriminate bombing.

The day after releasing Alexander, rather than seizing the opportunity to respond in kind and allow desperately needed food and medical aid into Gaza, Netanyahu doubled down on his belligerent stance. In a display of delusional arrogance, he pompously declared his willingness to receive ten more captives—while simultaneously reaffirming his refusal to end the siege-induced starvation of the civilian population.

One has to wonder whether even Donald Trump would respond to the Resistance’s goodwill gesture any differently than Netanyahu. Palestinians must confront the harsh reality that they are dealing with a supremacist ideology—one rooted in entitlement and a demand for absolute submission. This mindset was made chillingly clear on May 6, when Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich openly declared that Gaza must be “entirely destroyed” and that its 2.3 million Palestinian residents should be “encouraged” to ethnically cleanse themselves. His words are not just rhetoric; they expose the brutal logic underpinning current Israeli policy.

Smotrich’s genocidal rhetoric is not a fringe view. As a senior minister in Netanyahu’s cabinet, his words reflect official policy, openly endorsed by the Israeli government and, alarmingly, a growing segment of Israeli society. Speaking at a prominent conference in the West Bank’s Jewish-only colony of Ofra, Smotrich laid out a strategic roadmap that extends well beyond the current war in Gaza. He predicted the annexation of the West Bank before the current government’s term ends in 2026.

In the past, such declarations would have sparked international condemnation. Today, they are met with silence—or, at best, tepid calls for restraint. Meanwhile, Smotrich’s vision is being realized on the ground. After months of relentless bombing, much of Gaza lies in ruins. More than 90% of its population has been displaced—many multiple times. Hunger and malnutrition are widespread. Famine looms.

This brutal policy, driven by a Jewish ethno-nationalist ideology, is carried out by a military apparatus trained to dehumanize Palestinians. It is supported across the Israeli political spectrum and designed to expand illegal Jewish-only settlements on stolen Palestinian land, while systematically erasing any prospect of Palestinian statehood. Smotrich’s remarks are not a shocking aberration—they are a continuation of a 77-year Zionist campaign to dispossess, expel, or subjugate Palestinians.

Public opinion in Israel mirrors its government’s actions. Polls show a majority of Jewish Israelis support the ongoing war policies in Gaza—even as children die of hunger. More than half back Smotrich’s plan to impose unbearable living conditions to coerce Palestinians into “voluntarily” leaving their homeland.

And where is the United States? Still playing the role of enabler. For decades, Washington has provided near-unconditional financial support, military aid, diplomatic cover, and political impunity—all under the myth that Israel is a liberal democracy. In reality, U.S. policy has helped sustain an apartheid regime rooted in racial supremacy.

At the same time, the White House introduces a new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to slash domestic spending. Proposed cuts include eliminating the Department of Education, reducing student aid, Medicaid, and other services for vulnerable Americans—all in the name of “fiscal responsibility.” But there are no such austerity to reduce financing Israel, a wealthy, nuclear-armed country with a per capita GDP higher than Spain’s—and even higher than Mississippi’s. Imagine if the U.S. sent $5 billion annually to Spain, or God forbid give it to Mississippi.

And yet, in 2024, the White House and both parties in Congress—rarely united on anything—rushed to pledge an additional $17.9 billions to finance Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza. Meanwhile, the administration insists that Ukraine must repay U.S. aid, but no such strings are attached to Israel. Insanely, Congress and the White House lavish billions on the world’s 13th wealthiest nation while debating cuts to programs serving the poorest Americans.

If DOGE is truly serious about cutting waste, it should start with the one country that has received more than half of all U.S. foreign aid. A country so affluent it provides free college and universal healthcare for its citizens—benefits many Americans can only dream of. Redirecting just a portion of this aid could fund student debt relief or healthcare in underserved rural communities, especially in states like Mississippi. Instead, Washington continues to bankroll a militarized regime of racial domination.

Rather than financing Israeli apartheid, the U.S. must stop shielding Israel from accountability. It should support the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction over Israeli war crimes. The Trump administration—and any future leadership—must listen to the millions of Americans, including many Jews, who demand a foreign policy grounded in American values of justice and equality—not Smotrich’s vision of Zionist supremacy.

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