1. The Shock of the “Ownership of Gaza” Remark
On January 20, 2025, Donald Trump’s second administration was inaugurated. In his inaugural address, Trump declared, “We will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer,” and “I will, very simply, put America first.” On his first day in office, he signed numerous executive orders. Among them was an order calling for a 90-day suspension of foreign aid in order to assess whether such aid aligns with the “America First” foreign policy. A week later, the State Department announced a policy to freeze foreign aid disbursements in principle and stated the following: “Every dollar we spend, every program we fund, and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to three simple questions: Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America more prosperous?”
While the Trump administration has shown a firm stance on strictly reviewing and limiting foreign aid under the “America First” policy, emergency food assistance and military aid to Israel and Egypt were excluded. In particular, support for Israel may become even more generous than under the Biden administration. Just a few days after the presidential inauguration, on January 26, Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social: “A lot of things that were ordered and paid for by Israel, but have not been sent by Biden, are on their way!” He revealed that 1,800 one-ton bombs, which had been held back by the Biden administration, had been shipped to Israel. In response to their arrival, Israeli Defense Minister Katz issued a statement welcoming the move as “further evidence of the strong alliance between Israel and the United States.”
Since taking office, Trump has signed numerous executive orders. On January 29, he signed an executive order stating that the United States will “prosecute, remove, or otherwise hold to account the perpetrators of unlawful anti-Semitic harassment and violence.” The order, recognizing that “Jewish students have faced an unrelenting barrage of discrimination; denial of access to campus common areas and facilities, including libraries and classrooms; and intimidation, harassment, and physical threats and assault,” directed institutions of higher education to “monitor for and report activities by alien students and staff” in order to prevent the rise of antisemitism on campus.
On February 4, Trump held talks at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, making him the first foreign leader to meet with the president since the inauguration. During the meeting, Trump unveiled his personal proposal regarding Gaza, where Israeli military operations were ongoing, shocking the world. Describing the current state of Gaza as “like a demolition site,” he proposed relocating all Gaza residents abroad “to end the death and destruction,” and presented the idea that the United States would “take ownership of Gaza, clear unexploded ordnance, prepare the land, remove destroyed buildings, and provide jobs and housing through economic development.” He added that, through such reconstruction efforts, Gaza “has the potential to become a wonderful place known as the ‘Riviera of the Middle East.’” The Riviera refers to the luxury resort area along the Mediterranean coast near the France-Italy border. When asked whether this proposal signaled an abandonment of the long-standing U.S. policy goal of a “two-state solution” in which Israel and Palestine coexist, Trump avoided a direct answer, stating, “Not one state or two states, I just want to give people a chance at life.”
The Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions, which set the rules of armed conflict, prohibit the expulsion or transfer of residents from occupied territories. If Gaza residents were forcibly relocated against their will, it would constitute a violation of international humanitarian law. Trump’s remarks, which disregarded international law, drew widespread criticism from countries around the world. However, the Japanese government, which was preparing for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s visit to the United States and a Japan-U.S. summit just a few days later, refrained from commenting or criticizing Trump’s statements, choosing a cautious approach.
2. Silencing Criticism of Israel
On March 18, Israel resumed large-scale attacks on Gaza for the first time in about two months, breaking the ceasefire agreement that had been established with Hamas. At the United Nations, many members of the Security Council criticized the Israeli assault, and even within Israel, voices of doubt and criticism were widespread. Nevertheless, the United States fully backed the Israeli military’s actions, stating, “Hamas has rejected all proposals, including extensions of time to negotiate a framework for a permanent ceasefire, and the responsibility lies solely with Hamas.” In response to criticism that Israel’s large-scale attacks were being carried out “indiscriminately,” U.S. Acting Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Stephanie Shea, responded, “The Israeli military is targeting locations where Hamas is present.” She added, “President Trump has made it clear that unless Hamas immediately releases the hostages, it will pay a high price, and we support Israel’s next steps.”
The United States is not only becoming increasingly diplomatically isolated due to its hardline defense of Israel, but the Trump administration is also intensifying its crackdown on domestic criticism of Israel. One of the main targets of this crackdown is universities.
On March 8, the Trump administration announced that it would revoke $400 million (approximately 59 billion yen) in grants and contracts to Columbia University in New York, claiming the university had “failed in its duty to protect Jewish students from harassment related to the Palestine issue.” It also hinted that other universities may be targeted in the future. Since Hamas’s attack in October 2023 triggered Israel’s large-scale military operations in Gaza, protests have erupted across U.S. campuses, including Columbia, condemning Israel’s indiscriminate military actions, the U.S. government’s military support for them, and calling for the liberation of Palestine. However, Trump has dismissed all criticism of Israel’s military actions and the Netanyahu administration as “antisemitism.” In a post on social media, he also revealed plans to deport international students who participated in anti-Israel protests. Just a few days later, Mahmoud Khalil, a former graduate student who had played a leading role in the protests at Columbia, was detained by authorities. The move has sparked criticism within the United States as a potential violation of constitutionally protected freedoms of speech and expression. Trump has expressed his intention to continue detaining and deporting protest participants.
Columbia University chose to fully comply with Trump’s demands. On March 21, it announced several measures, including hiring 36 security officers with the authority to remove or detain individuals from campus, and banning protesters from wearing masks to conceal their identities during demonstrations. The university also announced that it would appoint a new senior official to lead a “comprehensive review” of its Middle East-related education and research programs. As a private university, Columbia’s apparent willingness to allow government intervention in its academic content has sparked significant controversy.
3. To Defend the “Alliance of Shared Values”
The moral disarray revealed by the Gaza crisis is forcing Japan’s diplomacy, which has long emphasized “shared values” with the United States, to undergo serious reconsideration.
In early April 2024, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited the United States and met with then-President Joe Biden. During his visit, Prime Minister Kishida delivered a speech titled “For the Future: Our Global Partnership” at a joint session of the U.S. Congress. He emphasized, “the world looks to your leadership” and stated, “On the spaceship called ‘Freedom and Democracy,’ Japan is proud to be your shipmate.” At the time, however, the United States was witnessing crackdowns on pro-Palestinian solidarity protests and increasing enforcement against what was labeled as antisemitic speech and actions. Although the Trump administration has carried out this crackdown in an overt and dramatic fashion, even under the Biden administration, a climate had already been spreading that left little room for criticism of Israel.
The Trump administration has reacted strongly against the International Criminal Court (ICC), which in November 2024 issued arrest warrants for three senior Hamas leaders as well as Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Gallant on suspicion of war crimes and crimes against humanity related to military operations in Gaza. The administration has expressed its intention to impose sanctions on ICC officials, including Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan, who filed the request for the warrants. Regarding these developments, Tomoko Akane, President of the ICC, stated the following: “If the United States imposes sanctions, the ICC’s activities could be paralyzed. Not only would the warrants issued against Israeli officials, but also those against Hamas leaders and President Putin, effectively lose their force. If the rule of law is disregarded in the international community and rule by force becomes the norm, victims of war crimes will be left without justice.” Expressing her concerns, Akane called on Japan to take political and diplomatic action to help preserve the ICC, describing it as one of the countries that has embodied the rule of law both domestically and internationally.
The joint statement released after the Ishiba-Trump summit in early February 2025 did not include terms such as “rule of law” or “international order.” Does this signal that the Japan-U.S. alliance will no longer be a partnership grounded in shared values like the rule of law and a rules-based international order? If so, it would be a significant loss for global peace. What Japan is being called upon to do now is not to superficially uphold lofty ideals, but to honestly acknowledge the divergences in values and interests that exist between Japan and the United States. Japan must not abandon the vision of the Japan-U.S. relationship as an “alliance of shared values.” To preserve that alliance, Japan should maintain a realistic view of the value gap revealed during the Trump-Ishiba summit while holding on to the hopes and expectations for American leadership expressed by Prime Minister Kishida, and continue to engage with the United States.