Barry Soper: Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent on Donald Trump's US-sponsored Gaza peace proposal

There's pressure on Hamas to agree to a US-led Gaza peace plan. 

The proposed deal includes ending the war, returning hostages, and pulling out Israeli troops.

An interim Palestinian Government would be led by Donald Trump and include experts like former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. 

A number of western and gulf state leaders have welcomed the deal.

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says Benjamin Netanyahu has voiced support for the plan - but he questioned what would happen if Hamas didn't agree.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Than Barry Soper, senior political correspondents with me right now, Hi,
Barry Helloa, right, you want to talk about Donald Trump?

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Well, I was going to talk about Chris Hipkins at
the start. Well we can talk about Donald No. I
find Donald Trump much more immuse he of course, as
we all know now, he met with Benjamin Netanya, who
this morning at the White House. There was no yellow
cheer treatment in the Oval Office for Netnahu, because you know,

(00:28):
he's above and beyond reproach if you listen to Donald Trump.
A press conference was held instead, which went beyond being
just a bromance. In my view, it was a love fest,
with Trump looking as though he had taken an aphrodisiac,
a bit like the history making emperor that he clearly
sees himself to be. With the help of the Israeli leader,

(00:50):
of course, here they are.

Speaker 3 (00:52):
Well, this is a big, big day, a beautiful day,
potentially one of the great days ever in civilization, things
that have been going on for hundreds of years and
thousands of years. We're gonna at least we're at a
minimum very very close, and I think we're beyond very close.
And I'm not just talking about Gaza guys is one thing,

(01:12):
but we're talking about much beyond Gaza. The whole deal,
everything getting solved. It's called peace in the Middle East.
Europe has been very much involved and as I was
called by many of the European leaders, most of them saying,
is this true?

Speaker 2 (01:28):
Are you really doing.

Speaker 3 (01:30):
Peace in the Middle East? This is the most incredible
thing we've heard. Some think it's the biggest thing they've
ever heard. They called just to find out was it
just a rumor or is it actually done.

Speaker 4 (01:42):
I want to thank you for your for your friendship
and for your leadership. You are the greatest friend that
Israel has ever had in the White House. And mister President,
you and I both know it's not even close.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
That baby kissing his boss.

Speaker 2 (01:59):
Yeah, Trump's basically what's happened in this agreement. If MAS
don't take it up, it gives the Israeli leader all
the power in the world to bomb Garza even more
out of existence, because you know Trump is going well,
you know, if Harmas doesn't lay down at arms, then
go for it.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
Now, Barry, I know how you feel about Donald Donald Trump.
I'm very fond of and it's clew Donald Trump feels
about Donald Trump. But set aside both of those things.
This is actually a reasonably good deal if it comes
to pass.

Speaker 2 (02:32):
Well no, but it's always, isn't it with Trump. Notice
it's not a lot of talk of Putin at the
moment because nothing came to the past.

Speaker 1 (02:39):
Stop stopping the arrangement. Just objectively look at it.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
I'm saying, look at the record, And Harry was shaking
Putin's hands, saying, we've got this in hand. It's going
to be all over within twenty four hours, no more meetings.
Putin's played him again, and he's been played. I know
he came to get it.

Speaker 1 (03:02):
It might not happen, okay, but if you look at
the plan that he's put together, it's a good plan.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
Well if it happened, well absolutely, Look, you can say
anything that could be a good plan if it happened here,
but you can say what you and Doc Trump tends
to do this. You'll say anything that comes into his head.
And the plan normally comes unstuck. And I suspect this
one will too, because we've seen how vile Hamas is. Okay,

(03:32):
we heard the romance arms down.

Speaker 1 (03:34):
You make a fair point about the chance.

Speaker 2 (03:37):
Around a long time and watching certainly American leaders can't happen.

Speaker 1 (03:44):
You make a fair point about the fact that it
may not come to pass. It's just trying to get
you to have such give them some credit anyway. Geez,
Now did Chris Luxon Was this a political stunt, this
letter that he sent to Chippy or.

Speaker 2 (03:56):
Oh, well, you know, did he read it? Yes, he
did read it, but after the media read the letter
basically asking for a bipartisan approach if labor were in
the position of being government next year this time next year,
which of course they won't be, but nevertheless he wanted
an agreement out of Hipkins said the media were given

(04:20):
the letter before he was well. It turns out that
he was on a plane when the letter was sent
to his offers. He landed and got off the plane
and then talked to the media and they asked some
questions about the letter that he hadn't seen. Well, I
would have thought that his office could have let him
know what was in the letter, because that's all he
had to do.

Speaker 1 (04:39):
Fair half an hour is a quick turnaround from the
next That's clearly well.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
I think the stunts on both sides. But Hipkins said
this morning that it wasn't a serious attempt to get
any sort of by partisan agreement on an energy strategy
for the future of New Zealand. He is.

Speaker 5 (04:56):
This is performance of politics, as opposed to any kind
of genuine attempt to reach it by part of an
agreement on I'll certainly send him a letter and respond.
I will say that oil and gas is not the
way of the future for New Zealand. Renewable energy is
the way of the future for New Zealand. We have
an abundant supply of it, it's cheap. We haven't had
a significant find of new natural gas for two decades,
more than two decads, more than twenty years. The government

(05:18):
subsidizing in all likelihood what are going to be empty holes,
isn't going to solve our energy crisis.

Speaker 2 (05:23):
Yeah, well, if you look at just recently twenty years,
twenty years, he says, well, Graham out Petroleum last year
discovered a gas reserve in the Taranaki basin and they're
going to be drilling that reserve and there is significant
well not significant. Fine, No, there have been three fines yep.

(05:46):
So just for him to say that, it's certainly before
this government came to power, the fines weren't there because
nobody was allowed to drill and look for the gas.

Speaker 1 (05:55):
There is more gas than Chippy Place. Yeah, Barry, thanks
very much. Barris Soper, Senior Political Correspondence.

Speaker 5 (06:00):
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