Israeli PM Netanyahu agrees to join Trump’s Board of Peace

Prime minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu said he has agreed to join President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, after his office earlier criticised the make-up of the board’s executive committee.

The committee included Turkey, a regional rival.

A statement from Mr Netanyahu’s office said he had accepted Mr Trump’s invitation.

The Board of Peace, led by Mr Trump, was originally envisioned as a small group of world leaders overseeing the Gaza ceasefire plan.

The Trump administration’s ambitions have ballooned into a more sprawling concept, with Mr Trump extending invitations to dozens of nations and hinting it will soon broker global conflicts, like a pseudo-UN Security Council.

More details were expected when Mr Trump participates in an announcement about the Board of Peace on Thursday at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

The board’s charter has not yet been made public, but a draft version obtained by The Associated Press indicates much of the power will be concentrated in the hands of Mr Trump himself.

A one billion dollars contribution secures permanent membership, the draft said.

So far, at least eight countries — Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Hungary, Argentina and Belarus – have agreed to take part.

Invitation letters from Mr Trump also have been sent to Paraguay’s leader Santiago Pena, Canadian prime minister Mark Carney, Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Plus, Russia, Israel, India, Slovenia, Thailand and the European Union’s executive arm have said they received invitations.

The Kremlin is now “studying the details” and will seek clarity of “all the nuances” in contacts with the US, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Mr Trump confirmed on Monday night that Russian president Vladimir Putin had been invited.

It was not immediately clear how many or which other leaders would receive invitations.

The executive board’s members include US secretary of state Marco Rubio, Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, Mr Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, former British prime minister Sir Tony Blair, Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan, World Bank president Ajay Banga, and Mr Trump’s deputy national security adviser Robert Gabriel.

The White House also announced the members of another board, the Gaza Executive Board, which, according to the ceasefire, will be in charge of implementing the tough second phase of the agreement.

That includes deploying an international security force, disarming Hamas and rebuilding the war-devastated territory.

Nickolay Mladenov, a former Bulgarian politician and UN Middle East envoy, is to serve as the Gaza executive board’s representative overseeing day-to-day matters.

Additional members include: Mr Witkoff, Mr Kushner, Sir Tony, Mr Rowan, Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan; Qatari diplomat Ali Al-Thawadi; Hassan Rashad, director of Egypt’s General Intelligence Agency; Emirati minister Reem Al-Hashimy; Israeli businessman Yakir Gabay; and Sigrid Kaag, the Netherlands’ former deputy prime minister and a Middle East expert.

The board also will supervise a newly appointed committee of Palestinian technocrats who will be running Gaza’s day-to-day affairs.