Trump considers bringing Palestinian Authority into Board of Peace

President reportedly considering granting the PA a seat on the newly formed Board of Peace. Israel remains opposed to the move.

By World Israel News Staff

President Donald Trump is considering offering the Palestinian Authority a seat on the newly formed Board of Peace, according to a report by Sky News Arabic published Thursday.

The Board of Peace was officially inaugurated Thursday at an event in Davos, Switzerland on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum’s annual gathering.

Hosted by President Trump, the chairman of the Board of Peace, representatives of more than a dozen member states signed the board’s charter, after which Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner laid out plans for the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip under the auspices of the board.

Ali Shaath, a former Palestinian Authority official from Gaza who has been tapped to lead the new committee administering the Gaza Strip, addressed the event in a pre-recorded video message in which he announced that the Rafah crossing into Gaza would soon be opened to two-way traffic.

Sources cited by the Sky News Arabic report said that a number of Arab states and other countries are lobbying the Trump administration to bring the Palestinian Authority onto the Board of Peace.

Trump is reportedly taking the request seriously, with discussions now underway between the US and the Palestinian Authority for Ramallah’s possible inclusion on the board.

However, the decision to give the Palestinian Authority a seat on the board has not been finalized and faces “Israeli and American obstacles.”

The Trump administration last year sought to block efforts by the French government to orchestrate a mass recognition of Palestinian statehood at the United Nations.

While offering the Palestinian Authority a seat on the board would not constitute de jure recognition, it would mark the first concrete step by the Trump administration effectively treating the PA as a sovereign entity.