Shifa Hospital Gaza (IDF)
Bill Ackman, the billionaire activist investor who runs Pershing Square Capital, has called for a new plan to rebuild Gaza. He calls it “New Gaza.” The plan includes an end to Hamas rule there and calls for some sort of international governorship of the Gaza Strip.
On Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, Bill Ackman said, “The mistake the first time was to allow Gazan self-governance which was a total failure. Hence, that is why I propose a new third-party governance structure. Do you have a better solution?”
“I am not making an argument that the Palestinians don’t have a right to govern themselves. I am just being practical,” he added. “In light of the governance failures in Gaza over the last 18 years, I don’t see a world in which the Gulf states and/or the U.S. or others invest resources in helping to rebuild Gaza unless they have confidence in the governance of New Gaza. “
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Bill Ackman pointed out that over the last 20 years, $40 billion or so has been invested in Gaza and that a “substantial portion” of this was invested in Hamas terror tunnels and rockets as well as “educating a generation of youth to hate and destroy Israel.”
“What government is going to invest anything in rebuilding Gaza without confidence that the mistakes of the past don’t get repeated?” he asked.
Bill Ackman said that the people of Gaza will gain hope from Israel’s and United States’ commitment that once Hamas is destroyed, they will support the creation of New Gaza subject to security commitments from the U.S. and Gulf states.
New Gaza would be, he said, completely rebuilt with modern infrastructure, sustainable energy and clean water, world-class architecture, technology, healthcare, education, favorable taxation, thoughtfully designed business creation incentives, and world class resorts on the Mediterranean.
The investor went on to say that the design of New Gaza should begin immediately with a global competition in which master planners, architects, and others would compete for large financial awards and the opportunity to build a “new city from a blank sheet of paper.”
He also said that civilians in Rafa in southern Gaza should be relocated to a refugee camp safe zone to be built in the Negev desert adjoining Gaza and that the Israeli military must destroy Hamas.
Bill Ackman is the founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, a hedge fund management company. He’s known for his activist investing approach, which involves taking large stakes in companies and pushing for changes in their management or strategies.
