Third Posting August 17, 2026
Admitting a Mistake Is the Road to Peace
Paul Craig Roberts
Today in a second posting, and shortly afterward in a discussion with Nima https://www.youtube.com/live/RSeBWcdz9vI , I called attention to recent statements by Israeli Minister of National Security, Ben-Gvir, whose party is a key component of Netanyahu’s governing coalition. Ben-Gvir said, “I see all of Gaza as ours.” He added that Palestinians “are people who are not worthy of life. They shouldn’t live. They’re not even people.” https://apnews.com/article/ben-gvir-israel-gaza-hamas-netanyahu-53f98e92686746f3c9bccd7cf59f26ad He said the only way for Palestinians to escape death is by mass emigration from Gaza.
Given Netanyahu’s dependence on Ben-Gvir, Ben Gvir’s statements close down Trump’s “Gaza peace plan,” further talk about a “two-state solution,” and any internal Israeli restraint on the Zionist agenda of Greater Israel. Ben-Givr or his allies have also made it clear that Israeli-occupied areas of Lebanon and Syria are also Israel’s.
This very hard stance reduces President Trump’s options for resolving the conflict with Iran to two: admitting a mistake and declaring the matter over, or resorting to nuclear weapons in order to prevail militarily over Iran.
Marjorie Taylor Greene recently reported that she was present when a nuclear option was considered. To use nuclear weapons would not help America’s reputation and the unintended consequences could be extreme. The downside of nukes leaves admitting a mistake to be the only American option. Moreover, it would save Trump’s reputation elevating him from buffoon to the greatest statesman of our time.
To end the conflict all President Trump has to do is to say that Washington made a mistake by joining with Israel in the attack on Iran, apologize for the mistake, and declare the matter to be over. After the initial shock of seeing Trump admit a mistake, the world would see a statesman.
The Israeli electorate, soon to vote whether to retain the Netanyahu coalition in office, would see America’s exit from Israel’s wars in behalf of Greater Israel. They would understand that Greater Israel without Washington’s participation is an impossibility and possibly decide that Israelis need a different government. If the Israeli people were to terminate Netanyahu’s government, the main source of violence in the Middle East–the Zionist agenda of Greater Israel–could be abandoned.
President Trump could add to his success by announcing that the war with Russia was also a mistake.
The Nobel Peace Prize would certainly be his, and he would deserve it.
There would be more hope for mankind if sensible thoughts such as these could be part of foreign policy discussion.