Trump launches ‘Board of Peace’: Who are the members and what is the goal?

The framework includes multiple executive bodies and foreign advisers to support the future technocratic Palestinian government.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

US President Donald Trump announced the founding members of the Board of Peace (BoP) intended to oversee Gaza’s administration under his leadership.

According to a White House statement, the BoP will “provid[e] strategic oversight, mobiliz[e] international resources, and ensur[e] accountability as Gaza transitions from conflict to peace and development.”

At the top of the structure is an “Executive Board,” tasked with translating the BoP’s “vision” into policy and action.

Its members include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also serving as acting national security adviser; one of his national security deputies, Robert Gabriel; and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff.

Trump’s son-in-law and informal adviser, Jared Kushner, is a member. He served in the president’s first administration and was instrumental in formulating Trump’s “Deal of the Century” for peace between Israel and the Palestinians that never came to fruition.

Among the non-government members is Marc Rowan, a Jewish billionaire and CEO of Apollo Global Management, who also chairs the UJA-Federation of New York.

World Bank Group President Ajay Banga will serve as the board’s key economic figure.

Former British Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair was also named to the board, despite reports that he has been blacklisted by several Arab states.

Another Executive Board member, former UN Middle East envoy Nikolay Mladenov, will serve as the High Representative for Gaza.

In that role, Mladenov will act as the liaison between the Board of Peace and the new technocratic Palestinian governing body, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), which will handle day-to-day civilian affairs in the Strip.

Each Executive Board member will oversee a defined portfolio such as reconstruction, attracting investment, and “governance capacity-building,” said the White House statement.

In addition, a separate advisory body — the 11-member Gaza Executive Board (GEB) — will be formed to “support” the Office of the High Representative and the NCAG in delivering what the administration described as “best-in-class services” to Gaza’s population.

Alongside Witkoff, Kushner, Blair, Rowan and Mladenov, the GEB will include Egyptian Intelligence chief Gen. Hassan Rashad, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem Al Hashimy, Israeli-Cypriot businessman Yakir Gabbai, and the UN’s Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag, a former Dutch minister.

The most controversial appointments from Israel’s perspective are Qatari businessman Ali Al-Thawadi and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, given both countries’ longstanding financial and political support for Hamas and extremely hostile stance toward Israel.

Further angering Jerusalem, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been invited to join the broader Board of Peace alongside some 60 world leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israeli Opposition Leader Yair Lapid sharply criticized the government for acquiescing to Qatari and Turkish involvement, calling it “a complete diplomatic failure of the Netanyahu government after the endless heroism and sacrifice of IDF soldiers and commanders.”

Board of PeaceDonald Trumpgaza stripNational Committee for the Administration of GazaTurkey