Miracles come in all shapes and circumstances, but here is a truly remarkable one: The New York Times has said something positive about President Trump.
All he had to do was get most of the world to back his sweeping plan for bringing peace to Gaza.
It was a long shot, but he and his skilled negotiating team pulled it off.
So much so that a Monday Times headline called it “A Major Breakthrough.”
The story went on to declare that the United Nations Security Council vote to support the president’s plan represents “a major diplomatic victory for the Trump administration.”
It is that, and a helluva lot more, including the fact that it already has saved untold lives, both Jewish and Arab, and will save many more each day if it is fully implemented.
The 13-0 vote, with China and Russia abstaining, increases what was already the only chance for a broad Mideast peace the region has had in decades.
It is also worth noting that China and Russia, as permanent members of the Security Council, chose not to use their veto powers, which reveals that they, too, realize there is no realistic alternative in Gaza other than more war.
Hissy fit to print
One takeaway of the good news is that a word of caution is in order to the Times reporter whose byline is on the complimentary article.
Farnaz Fassihi covers the UN, and so she might have missed the Times’ newsroom edict that all employees shall speak only evil of Trump.
The daily drumbeat of anti-Trump screeds in the leftist paper is as predictable as it nauseating.
The formula is mindlessly simple: If Trump is for it, the Times is rabidly against it.
Facts and fairness don’t enter into the decision.
That could mean some of Fassihi’s rabid colleagues will use social media to try to drive her out of her job, as they have others who dared to display insufficient hate for Trump and his every word, idea and action.
For the rest of the world, the Security Council vote marks what I see as Miracle No. 2 that Trump and his team have delivered for Gaza.
The first came in September when he unveiled the 20-point plan for a cease-fire and a hostage and prisoner swap.
It seemed like a waste of time when he first talked about the idea, but with some arm-twisting, Israel signed on immediately.
So, too, did much of Europe and important regional powers, including Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The Arab buy-in, especially from Qatar, which has been Hamas’ principal funder and protector, gave the plan a burst of momentum that even the terror group’s leaders could not ignore.
They soon saw the light, gave their approval and began returning the first of the 20 living hostages they had been savagely holding in Gaza tunnels for more than two years, along with the remains of others who were almost certainly murdered in captivity.
The weeks since have been among the quietest since the war began with Hamas’ savage invasion of Oct. 7, 2003.
And now UN support offers reasons to hope the guns will stay silent.
Still, there remains a large hurdle, and getting the Trump plan over it would constitute Miracle No. 3.
It will need to be achieved if all the dramatic and lasting benefits the plan envisions are to be realized.
MAGA hat trick
As I see it, Miracle No. 3 would be the disarming of Hamas.
Without it, all the other gains are vulnerable and subject to being reversed by crazy dead-enders who live to kill Jews.
Hamas savages also seem to enjoy killing fellow Palestinians in Gaza, as recent events show.
The videos of their gruesome public executions capture the hell on Earth they have created.
The White House maintains the terror group promised to give up all its weaponry when it endorsed the original plan, but there’s no sign that is actually happening.
A fall-back possibility is the plan’s provision calling for an International Stabilization Force to help demilitarize the strip and secure and maintain peace.
The force, to be made up of troops from various countries, will also take over land held by Israel inside Gaza as the IDF withdraws.
That provision is one that makes the measure’s adoption by the Security Council so crucial.
Several countries have said approval would make it more likely they would contribute armed forces to the stabilization group because Security Council passage makes the Trump plan legally binding under international law.
Another key measure in the plan calls for a “technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee,” to deliver basic services in Gaza.
In part to satisfy Israeli concerns about the committee, it will be supervised by an international body called the “Board of Peace,” which will be headed by Trump.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is set to join the group, which will also handle the envisioned international funding for Gaza redevelopment.
Meanwhile, another part of the plan declares that Hamas and other factions agree to not have any role in governing Gaza.
And all “military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, including tunnels and weapon production facilities, are to be destroyed.”
Palestinian state-craft
The sweeping yet detailed plan reflects Trump’s ambitious commitment to peace in the Middle East.
Another sign is the lavish praise he heaped on Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, during a White House visit Tuesday.
In giving MBS a pass on having any role or knowledge about the 2018 murder of a critic turned Washington Post columnist, Trump exhibited how eager he is to get the prince to join the Abraham Accords, a breakthrough pact achieved in his first term, and fully normalize relations with Israel.
In the past, the Saudis have insisted that a Palestinian state has to be part of any deal.
Although There is mention of such an entity in the Trump plan, but no commitment, and the president has said that creating one now would be rewarding Hamas.
He’s right about that, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that such a state will not happen on his watch.
Nor is there a sign of any possible Israeli successor who would endorse such a state after what Hamas did on Oct. 7 and since.
In addition, there are many practical complications, including the actual borders.
And given Trump’s statements about not wanting to reward Hamas, I don’t see how a Palestinian state emerges from the Gaza rubble.
If the Saudi ruler is as smart as his fans say, he will not allow the issue to stand in the way of all the good things that would result for millions of people in the region under the Trump plan.
Indeed, the plan is so good and far reaching that, if fully implemented, the president should hands down win that elusive Nobel Peace Prize.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
