The White House announced that U.S. President Donald Trump is sending out invitations to heads of government to join his new organisation, the “Board of Peace,” which he will be chairing. The board was initially developed as part of Trump’s Compressive plan to fulfil the 20-point roadmap to establishing peace and security in Gaza.
However, the charter for the Board of peace which was sent out to potential member countries, makes no mention of Gaza anywhere.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz noted that the body has positioned itself as a potential rival to the United Nations without all the inefficiency, instead of the original stated purpose of managing Gaza's reconstruction.
The charter's membership requirement says that member states “must contribute 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 exact purpose of the funds is also not mentioned in the charter. The finance section only says, “Funding for the expenses of the Board of Peace shall be through voluntary funding from Member States, other States, organisations, or other sources.”
The preamble of the charter reads, “durable peace requires pragmatic judgment, common-sense solutions, and the courage to depart from approaches and institutions that have too often failed.” Towards the end, it says “Emphasising the need for a more nimble and effective international peace-building body.”
The wording seems to suggest that the new body is being envisioned as an international peace-building body, similar to how the United Nations was also formed.
Despite the November UN resolution giving the board for Gaza a two-year mandate, Trump’s new board has three-year terms and paid memberships.
The White House also announced its initial seven members on the organisation's operating committee, the ‘funding executive board’. Chaired by Trump, the list includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and adviser; former British Prime Minister Tony Blair; Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank; the financier Marc Rowan; Robert Gabriel, a deputy national security adviser and former Fox News producer; and Witkoff.
The board's invitation has been sent to leaders of Egypt, Turkey, Argentina, and Canada.
In the letter of invitation sent out to world leaders, Trump wrote, “This board will be one of a kind; there has never been anything like it!”
If the board of peace is a UN replacement, it would square with the US president's long-held contempt for the global body, the Atlantic reported. The US president has said that the UN has tremendous potential and is not living up to it. Trump has also pulled the US out of several UN bodies and cut funding to agencies like UNRWA and the World Food Programme.
The Israeli government, which has been cutting ties with the UN, has been interestingly less enthusiastic over the creation of Trump’s new body, citing its failure to coordinate with them.
More announcements on the board of peace will be made at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Monday.
