For 22 months, since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted it’s too soon to discuss Gaza’s future. One can debate the merits of his position (and his motivations). For the sake of Israel’s long-term security, however, the time has come to change course.

Thanks in no small part to the prime minister’s decisions — along with the skill of Israeli spies and fighter pilots, and crucial help from the U.S. — Israel enjoys a stronger position in its neighborhood than it has in decades, or perhaps ever. Its enemies have been routed: Hamas is a shell of its former self; Hezbollah has been decapitated and stripped of much of its missile arsenal. Most important, Iran has been humbled, suffering devastating damage to its nuclear facilities, military leadership, ballistic-missile forces and air defenses after 12 days of Israeli and U.S. airstrikes. Neighbors from Saudi Arabia to Lebanon and Syria have indicated varying degrees of interest in healthier relations with the Jewish state.

At the same time, the war in Gaza is draining Israel’s resources and gravely damaging its global standing. Images of emaciated and hungry children have provoked widespread outrage. Hundreds of Palestinians have died while trying to access limited aid distribution points. Last week, more than two dozen Western nations called for an immediate end to the fighting. France announced it intends to recognize a Palestinian state.

While Hamas deserves the lion’s share of the blame for dragging out ceasefire talks, Netanyahu’s far-right allies have also vowed to topple the government if he agrees to a truce. It’s past time for the prime minister to call their bluff. With the Knesset now in recess until late October, he should have more freedom to act.

He ought to recognize that Israel’s moment of triumph won’t last forever. Iran will rebuild its defenses; it has already resumed efforts to arm Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis. Arab leaders’ appetite for normalized relations will fade if Israel continues to reject any possibility of a Palestinian state. Even in the U.S., support for the Jewish state is declining precipitously.

As dominant as Israel may appear militarily, the best way to ensure its long-term security remains to normalize relations with its Arab neighbors, forming a U.S.-backed bloc that would contain Iran and promote innovation and growth in the region rather than terrorism and war. The Saudis and others have always resisted taking such a leap until Israeli leaders lay out a credible path to a renewed peace process with the Palestinians. With Arab populations inflamed by the scenes of devastation in Gaza, that’s even more vital now.

Israel has a right to expect Arab states to take some risks of their own. Not only should they be pressuring Hamas to agree to a temporary ceasefire and release Israeli hostages, but they’ll also need to make clear to the group’s leaders that they must ultimately surrender authority to a transitional administration. Equally, they’ll need to lean on the Palestinian Authority to implement real reforms, including by replacing its ossified, corrupt, discredited leadership, if it wants to have a role in that body. Arab nations will have to provide security in Gaza until a PA that has Israel’s confidence can take over.

If they do, Israel should offer what its neighbors have been demanding: a pathway to a two-state solution. Mocking the idea as naive is easy but unproductive. What’s truly fantastical is thinking Gaza and the West Bank can magically be denuded of Palestinians. Annexing those territories and reducing Palestinians to second-class citizens — the one-state solution — would be a recipe for endless conflict.

Israel has both the right and the leverage to demand Arab states do their share for peace. For its own sake, it should do no less.

____

The Editorial Board publishes the views of the editors across a range of national and global affairs.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com/opinion. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.