Israeli PM Netanyahu agrees to join Trump’s Board of Peace
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted US President Donald Trump’s invitation to join the Peace Board.
In the statement made by his office, it was stated that Netanyahu will be a member of the board “which will consist of world leaders”.
The board was initially thought to be aimed at helping end the two-year war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and overseeing reconstruction. But the proposed charter makes no mention of Palestinian territory and appears designed to fulfill the functions of the UN.
In addition to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Morocco and Vietnam also agreed to participate. Many people expressed reservations.
It’s unclear how many countries have been invited to Trump’s new body; Canada, Russia, Türkiye and the UK are among them, but they have not yet responded publicly.
Norway said it would not participate because the current proposal “raises a number of questions”, while France and Sweden said they would do the same.
According to a copy of the charter leaked to the media, member states will be given a renewable three-year term but can gain a permanent seat if they provide $1bn (£740m) in funding for the board.
The document states that the Peace Board will be “an international organization aimed at promoting stability, restoring credible and lawful governance, and securing lasting peace in conflict-affected or threatened areas.” The statement also states that it will “undertake such peacebuilding functions in accordance with international law.”
Trump will be president but will also “serve separately” as a representative of the United States. A US official said the presidency could remain in Trump’s hands “until he resigns”, but the future US president could choose a new representative.
As president, he will have “exclusive authority to create, modify or dissolve subsidiaries as necessary or appropriate to carry out the Peace Board’s mission,” according to the document.
U.S. officials said Trump will also select “leaders of global significance” to serve two years on a Board of Directors that will help carry out the Peace Corps’ mission.
Last Friday, White House names seven members of founding Executive Committee. They included US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and former British prime minister Tony Blair.
Trump also appointed Bulgarian politician and former UN Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov as the Peace Board’s representative in Gaza during the second phase of Trump’s peace plan, which calls for the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces as well as reconstruction and demilitarization of the region, including the disarmament of Hamas.
Mladenov will serve as a liaison to the Palestinian technocratic government, which will “oversee the restoration of basic public services, the reconstruction of civil institutions, and the stability of daily life.”
A separate Gaza Executive Board would help support the technocratic government, according to the White House.
Witkoff, Kushner, Blair, Rowan and Mladenov will serve alongside Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad, Qatari strategic affairs minister Ali al-Thawadi, UAE minister of state for international cooperation Reem al-Hashimy, billionaire Israeli real estate developer Yakir Gabay and Dutch politician and UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process Sigrid Kaag.
On Saturday, Netanyahu’s office said the composition of the Gaza Executive Council “is not coordinated with Israel and is contrary to its policy.”
Israeli media said that the decision to include representatives of Türkiye and Qatar, which helped mediate the ceasefire that came into force in October as well as Egypt and the United States, in the meeting was “shameful to Israel”.
Under the first phase of the peace plan, Hamas and Israel agreed to a ceasefire, the exchange of living and dead Israeli hostages in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, a partial Israeli withdrawal, and an increase in humanitarian aid deliveries.
The second phase faces major challenges; Hamas had previously refused to lay down its arms without the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, and Israel had not committed to a complete withdrawal from Gaza.
The ceasefire is also fragile. According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, more than 460 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the law came into force; The Israeli army announced that three of its own soldiers were killed in Palestinian attacks in the same period.
The war was triggered by a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 people were taken hostage.
According to the regional health ministry, Israel responded to the attack by launching a military operation in Gaza; More than 71,550 people were killed during this operation.
