Israel has voiced objection to the lineup of the Gaza Executive Board, which will support a Palestinian body to ensure effective postwar governance in Gaza under US President Donald Trump’s peace plan.
Meanwhile, more world leaders have received invitations to join the Board of Peace, amid US plans to extend its role beyond the Gaza conflict.
Israeli Objections
Israel expressed opposition to some of the names on the Gaza Executive Board, which was formed without consultation with the Israeli side, reported AFP.
“The announcement regarding the composition of the Gaza Executive Board, which is subordinate to the Board of Peace, was not coordinated with Israel and runs contrary to its policy,” the office of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said.
“The Prime Minister has instructed the Foreign Affairs Minister to contact the US Secretary of State on this matter,” it added in a statement on Saturday.
The Gaza Executive Board will support the work of the Board of Peace‘s Gaza representative, Nickolay Mladenov, and the Palestinian committee to ensure effective governance as well as the delivery of high-quality services that advance peace, stability, and prosperity for the people of Gaza.
Among the names revealed for this 11-member committee were the Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, and the Qatari diplomat, Ali Al-Thawadi. According to Israeli media, Netanyahu objects to any role for Türkiye and Qatar in Gaza as both countries have fractious relationships with Israel.
Israel Sidestepped
A senior US official confirmed to Axios that Trump did not consult with Netanyahu on the matter as the administration was growing impatient with Israeli objections.
“If he wants us to deal with Gaza, it will have to be our way. … He will do his politics and we will keep moving forward with our plan. He can’t really go against us,” the US official said.
“This is our show, not his show. We managed to do things in Gaza in recent months nobody thought was possible, and we are going to continue moving,” the official added.
Gaza Board of Peace
The White House on Friday unveiled the names of some of the members of the Gaza Board of Peace, tasked with overseeing the transitional government in the territory.
Chaired by Trump, the international body will include a founding Executive Board, involving leaders with expertise in diplomacy, development, infrastructure, and economic strategy.
Each member will manage a specific portfolio critical to Gaza’s stabilization, such as governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, large-scale funding, and capital mobilization.
The Executive Board’s members include US State Secretary Marco Rubio; US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff; Trump’s advisor Jared Kushner; former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair; US billionaire businessman Marc Rowan; Trump’s deputy national security advisor Robert Gabriel; and World Bank President Ajay Banga.
Meanwhile, the former UN envoy, Nickolay Mladenov, will serve as the Board of Peace “High Representative” for Gaza, acting as the on-the-ground link between the Board of Peace and the Palestinian technocratic committee, known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), chaired by Ali Shaath.
The White House also announced the formation of the 11-member Gaza Executive Board to support the work of the NCAG. It includes Rubio, Witkoff, Kushner, Blair and Mladenov, in addition to representatives from Egypt, Qatar, Türkiye and the UAE.
Board of Peace Expansion
As the White House said that additional members will be announced over the coming weeks, the leaders of Egypt, Türkiye, Argentina, Canada, France, Germany, and Australia have received invitations to join the Board of Peace.
Moreover, an EU official told Reuters that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had received an invitation to represent the European Union.
Egypt’s Foreign Minister, Badr Abdelatty, confirmed that President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi had received the invitation and Cairo was studying the request.
Furthermore, a spokesman for the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he had been asked to become a “founding member” of the board, while a senior aide to the Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he intended to accept Trump’s invitation, according to AFP.
Argentine President Javier Milei also confirmed he had received an invitation. “It is an honor for me to have received tonight the invitation for Argentina to join, as a Founding Member, the Board of Peace, an organization created by President Trump to promote lasting peace in regions affected by conflict, starting with the Gaza Strip,” he wrote on X.
Earlier this week, Trump suggested that the role of this Board of Peace could extend beyond Gaza to resolve other conflicts around the world. “It’s going to, in my opinion, start with Gaza and then do conflicts as they arise,” Trump said during an interview with Reuters.
“… like – other countries that are going to war with each other,” he said about the Board’s potential task.
Trump Charter
The invitation letters sent by Trump included a “Charter of the Board of Peace.” According to reports by Bloomberg and the Atlantic, the draft charter suggests that countries can secure permanent membership by contributing $1 billion to the board’s fund within its first year.
“Each Member State shall serve a term of no more than three years from this Charter’s entry into force, subject to renewal by the Chairman. The three-year membership term shall not apply to Member States that contribute more than USD $1,000,000,000 in cash funds to the Board of Peace within the first year of the Charter’s entry into force,” the draft read.
Under the proposed charter, member states have voting rights but Trump retains the ultimate authority to ratify decisions.
However, the White House dismissed the reports as “misleading,” emphasizing that there is no minimum membership fee to join the Board of Peace.
“This simply offers permanent membership to partner countries who demonstrate deep commitment to peace, security, and prosperity,” it said in a post on X.
