President Donald Trump is ramping up pressure on Israel to bring its military campaign in Gaza to an end, even as Israeli politicians offer starkly different visions for what should follow. In interviews with The Media Line, two members of Knesset and a party leader from across the political spectrum agreed on one thing: Hamas must not survive this war. But how to achieve that—and what comes next—remains deeply contested.
“Hamas is a murderous terrorist organization that poses a danger to the State of Israel and the entire region,” said MK Sharon Nir of Yisrael Beitenu, a right-wing opposition party. She called for a coordinated transition involving regional actors and the United States. “The time has come to reach a deal for the return of all hostages,” she added, “and to formulate a memorandum of understanding for Gaza with the US, based on the Lebanon model.”
MK Simcha Rothman of Religious Zionism, a far-right party in Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, dismissed the idea that Hamas could retain control. “I don’t think that allowing Hamas to stay in power is part of President Trump’s plan,” he said. “He spoke against it very vocally over and over again. So I think that is a hypothetical question that we will never need to face.”
Yair Golan, a former Israel Defense Forces general and leader of The Democrats, a merger of the center-left Labor and left-wing Meretz parties, took a broader view. “The question is not about just finishing the war,” he said. “It’s about in what way we will be able—and in what way we should—take the military achievements and translate them into better security for Israel for the long run.” For Golan, success depends on building a viable alternative to Hamas. “Personally, I think we should have built a replacement entity for Hamas a year ago.”
We wasted the last 12 months on this attempt, but we must start now
He argued that such a replacement could include “Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates with the Palestinian Authority, with the improved Palestinian Authority, or with any other moderate Palestinian entity, a kind of professional government.” Golan said he had spoken with key regional leaders, including UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who “made it very clear—they are willing to be part of the process of building a moderate ruling entity inside the Gaza Strip.”
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Golan also named exiled Fatah official Mohammed Dahlan as a serious candidate. “I met Mohammed Dahlan. He wants to be part of the process,” he said. “I consider Dahlan a true competitor concerning the position of Hamas. … He was born in Khan Yunis, so it is a serious opportunity.” For Golan, defeating Hamas requires both dismantling its infrastructure and creating a functioning alternative. “We wasted the last 12 months on this attempt,” he said, “but we must start now.”
Rothman rejected that vision entirely. “It’s a little bit naïve to think that other countries and other powers and other soldiers will endanger their lives to get rid of Hamas,” he said. “It failed in Lebanon with the international powers. It failed almost everywhere it was tried.” He argued that despite international sympathy, Israel alone bears responsibility.
Israel has to be in charge, because no one else will do its dirty work
He cited German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, saying that even Merz had acknowledged that “this is the dirty work Israel is doing for all of us.” Rothman added, “In the end, Israel has to be in charge, because no one else will do its dirty work.”
Nir offered a third approach. “On the day after in Gaza, control should be transferred to Egypt and the Emirates, with a governing alternative from Arab League states,” she said. To show how Israel could maintain deterrence in such a scenario, she pointed to the northern border. “Since the end of the fighting in Lebanon against Hezbollah, Israel has fully enforced the ceasefire. Every violation by Hezbollah receives an uncompromising response, and 200 terrorists have been eliminated there.” She argued that this kind of deterrence could be replicated in Gaza.
While all three politicians agreed that Hamas must not survive, they differed in tone and strategy. Rothman warned that letting Hamas persist would send a dangerous signal. “If the villains of the world see that Hamas, after October 7, lives to see another day, they will be encouraged,” he said. “We will see Hamas-like attacks not only in Israel but also in Europe, in the United States, in the entire free world.”
Hamas must not rule Gaza—not militarily, not politically—at the end of this war
Nir echoed the urgency more succinctly: “Hamas must not rule Gaza—not militarily, not politically—at the end of this war.”
Golan took a more pragmatic view. “We’ve lived with Hamas since 1987,” he said. “Saying that Israel cannot exist with Hamas aside is not true.” The critical issue, he argued, is Hamas’s capabilities. “We can influence their capabilities,” he said, even if their intentions remain fixed. He called for a two-pronged approach: “On the one hand, we should suppress Hamas and its ability to gain more capabilities. On the other hand, we need to build an alternative. If you take these two efforts together, then you can build a better future for Gaza and Israel.”
Ultimately, while all three politicians agree on the need to dismantle Hamas, their proposed strategies—ranging from unilateral Israeli force to regional diplomatic coordination—reflect the broader divisions within Israel’s political leadership.