The prospects of US President Donald Trump’s ambitious Board of Peace for emergency relief and the reconstruction of Gaza succeeding can be best summarized by the reactions of two individuals who know the issues very well – former US ambassador to Israel under Barack Obama, Daniel Shapiro, and noted Israeli diplomatic journalist for N12, Barak Ravid.
On Thursday, at the inaugural meeting in Washington of his Board of Peace, Trump said that various US allies have contributed over $7 billion to relief efforts in Gaza, and that the US would contribute around $10b.
Trump also announced that five countries – Indonesia, Morocco, Albania, Kosovo, and Kazakhstan – agreed to contribute thousands of personnel to the International Stabilization Force, which is supposed to gradually replace IDF troops in Gaza.
Shapiro bluntly tweeted on Friday the viewpoint that the event was nothing more than a Trump grandiose display and expressed the hope that it would bear fruit.
“Hard to take the Board of Peace seriously. Barely any Palestinian input, no women speakers, grand reconstruction plans contingent on Hamas disarmament, which is not happening, lifetime chairman Trump padding his slush fund with $10b. of taxpayer money. [Europeans] smart to stay away,” he tweeted, almost joyful that the plan was doomed to fail.
Shapiro’s cynical assessment met pushback from Ravid, an unlikely source who could never be considered to be a fan of Trump or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He tweeted in response:
“Dan, I disagree.
“1st – This is the most significant effort by a US president to tackle the issue of Gaza – a key impediment to any Israeli-Palestinian peace deal – in more than a decade. President Trump has so far shown incredible commitment to this process.
“2nd – [President Joe] Biden should have done it after the May 2021 war. There were plans drafted, but he neglected them.
“3rd – This plan is based on the political context of Palestinian statehood.
“4th – The plan establishes a new Palestinian government in Gaza supported by the international community. The head of this government spoke yesterday at the event.
“5th – Trump managed to build an international coalition to support the Gaza peace plan. It is based on Muslin and Arab countries from the region who also agreed to put their money and political capital into it. Some even agreed to send troops. The Europeans are wrong to sit it out.
“6th – The plan creates unprecedented international pressure on Hamas to disarm. Most of this pressure comes from Arab and Muslim countries. This is a first
“7th – The president of the World Bank was at the event. He is overseeing the money, so not sure a ‘slush fund’ is an accurate description.
“8th – For the first time in history, the Israeli government doesn’t have an automatic veto on what happens in Gaza and is only one element in the process.
“9th – The Palestinian Authority is involved, as [Board of Peace head Nickolay Mladenov] said in his remarks.
“10th – A new Palestinian security force is being formed, and a highly respected US military general is going to oversee the process.
“11th – Is it perfect? No. Are there going to be challenges? Definitely. Is Hamas gonna play ball – I have big doubts. But it is in my judgment a sincere and serious effort by the president and his team to create positive change in Gaza and in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
That rebuttal prompted Shapiro to expand on his original post, in which he acknowledged some of the positive aspects of the BoP but doubled down on Trump’s unchecked control of the process and the funding.
“Barak – I don’t criticize the whole effort. Pressure on Hamas to disarm is absolutely essential, the prerequisite to getting the reconstruction money to flow, the stabilization forces to come, and a moderate Palestinian leadership to take hold.
“Arab and Muslim state leadership is critical – they have shown some, and hopefully their own divisions will not hamstring progress. And I have welcomed the call in Trump’s 20-point plan for a credible pathway to a Palestinian state. If he will focus his diplomatic efforts to achieve those goals, I will absolutely welcome it.
“What is not credible is the Board of Peace structure. Trump is named as the lifetime chairman – not subject to his being president – with sole control of all decisions and use of the funds it controls, and the ability to name his successor.
“He has no authority to commit the $10b. he announced with no involvement of Congress. Autocrats don’t care, but no democratic government with responsibility for its citizens’ funds can participate in such a corrupt structure. (That used to be the US standard, too.) If you wanted full global involvement in this effort, you would not structure it this way.
“Yes, a Palestinian technocratic government has been named. I hope they will be given space to establish legitimacy and deliver for their own people, and convince Israelis they are prepared and able to make Gaza a peaceful neighbor.
“But the power on display yesterday was not invested there – it was in the developers who promise fantastical dreams of Gaza-as-Dubai-on-steroids, not on a plausible reconstruction of a Gaza that functions for the Palestinians who live there. Call me skeptical that it can be achieved, or that the focus isn’t on putting money in the pockets of the Trump family and friends – the way nearly every other initiative of this administration is structured. If the president of the World Bank can prevent this corruption, I will be very pleasantly surprised.
“I have great faith in the US military to do outstanding work, helping lead an ISF and train a Palestinian security force. And only respect for [Mladenov].
“I have much less confidence that Trump will use the serious leverage he has on Netanyahu to restrain Israeli excesses in the West Bank and toward the PA (and even Gaza) that threaten the success of their work and his own goal of establishing a credible pathway to a Palestinian state.
“I readily acknowledge that I’ve been part of administrations that have made many mistakes and fallen short in this arena. We own our lack of success, although much of that responsibility resides in the region.
“As I did with the Abraham Accords and the hostage deal, I will absolutely give Trump credit for the breakthroughs he achieves. But one cannot divorce what he has set up in the Board of Peace from his other self-aggrandizing, self-enriching undertakings, which is very much what was on display yesterday. The better future for Israelis and Palestinians was much less at the forefront.”
With assessments like Shapiro’s and Ravid’s, it is clear that the BoP is going to face an uphill battle to achieve its goals. And if Hamas doesn’t agree to “play ball,” as Shapiro put it, the whole endeavor will find it difficult to find the wings to even get it off the ground.
Then the issue of funds and Trump’s pockets will be a moot point.