The enthusiastic reception among the Israeli public for Donald Trump's Gaza takeover plan - that includes emptying the Strip of almost 2 million Palestinians - has offered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a political boost that he is likely to take full advantage of.

Haaretz editor-in-chief Aluf Benn said on the Haaretz Podcast that "very sadly, the transfer idea is extremely popular within Israeli Jewish society," though the fear of international condemnation was always there. Now, the fact that the American president himself put the idea of moving Palestinians out of Gaza on the table gives Netanyahu - and other Israelis - the ability to embrace the concept of ethnic cleansing openly.