Netanyahu challenges composition of US-announced Gaza executive council: 'It's against Israeli policy'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump at the White House. PHOTO: Avi Ohayon/Israel Gpo/ZUMA Press Wire / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Saturday that this week's announcement by US President Donald Trump's administration on the composition of an executive council for Gaza was not coordinated with Israel and is against Israeli government policy, Reuters and AFP reports.
“The announcement regarding the composition of the Gaza Steering Committee, which belongs to the Gaza Peace Council (established by Trump and chaired by him), was not coordinated with Israel and is contrary to its policy,” according to a statement published by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.
According to the quoted statement, Netanyahu “asked his foreign minister (Gideon Saar) to contact US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in this regard.”
However, the communiqué does not specify what exactly in the composition of the council contravenes Israeli policy. An Israeli government spokesman declined to comment, Reuters notes.
The composition of this body of the Peace Council for Gaza, presented by the White House on Friday, includes Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and a Qatari official, AFP mentions.
Israel has repeatedly opposed any Turkish role in Gaza.
Trump invited Erdogan to join Gaza Peace Council, Turkey announces
Several world leaders have been invited to join the so-called “Peace Council” for Gaza, US President Donald Trump announced, but the exact composition of the council remains unclear.
According to international news agencies, Washington would have sent invitations to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi and Argentine President Javier Milea, as well as others.
The Gaza Peace Council is part of the second phase of Trump's peace plan for the Gaza Strip, which calls for an end to the war with Israel and the disarmament of the Hamas group.
The body is to oversee the new transitional committee for the Gaza Strip, which was largely destroyed in the war between Hamas and Israel. President Trump will chair the council.
Which Americans did Trump put on the Peace Council?
On Friday, the White House announced the names of some of the members of this Peace Council that will oversee the temporary government of the Gaza Strip, which has been in a fragile truce since October.
Among the names are US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, writes Reuters. Trump is the chairman of the council, according to a plan unveiled by the White House in October.
Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas signed off on Trump's plan, which calls for a Palestinian technocratic body to be overseen by the international council, which will oversee the governance of Gaza for a transitional period.
Many experts and human rights advocates have said Trump's oversight of a council to oversee the governance of a foreign territory resembles a colonial structure, and Blair's involvement was criticized last year because of his role in the Iraq war and the history of British imperialism in the Middle East.
The White House did not specify the responsibilities of each member of the “founding executive board.”
The council will also include Marc Rowan, a billionaire private equity executive, Ajay Banga, the president of the World Bank, and Robert Gabriel, an adviser to Trump, the White House said, adding that Nickolay Mladenov, the former UN envoy to the Middle East, will be the top representative for Gaza.
Other members of the executive board include Sigrid Kaag, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, an Israeli-Cypriot billionaire and a minister from the United Arab Emirates, who established relations with Israel in 2020.
