Israel has now joined the ranks of nations participating in the Peace Board initiative led by US President Donald Trump. This board is dedicated to addressing and resolving disputes on a global scale.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his decision to take part after initially voicing concerns about the composition of the board’s executive committee. Notably, Turkey, a nation often at odds with Israel, was among the members.
The original mission of the board was to supervise the reconstruction efforts in Gaza. However, its charter suggests a broader mandate that extends beyond the Palestinian region.
The charter describes the board as “an international organization committed to fostering stability, reestablishing lawful governance, and achieving lasting peace in conflict-affected or threatened areas.”
Furthermore, the board pledges to “carry out peace-building activities in line with international law,” according to the charter shared with invited countries.
It will ‘undertake such peace-building functions in accordance with international law’, it adds.
In order to become a member, countries must be invited by the US president, and will be represented by their head of state or government.
Each member ‘shall serve a term of no more than three years’, the charter says.
Israel has become the latest country to join US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace
Trump asked both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to join the board
But ‘the three-year membership term shall not apply to member states that contribute more than USD $1,000,000,000 in cash funds to the Board of Peace within the first year of the charter’s entry into force’, it adds.
The US official said that membership itself ‘does not carry any mandatory funding obligation beyond whatever a state or partner chooses to contribute voluntarily’.
The board will convene annual meetings with decisions by a majority vote, with the chairman breaking any tie.
Dozens of countries and leaders have said they have received an invitation, including close US allies but also adversaries.
China has been invited and both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, despite Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
A number of governments immediately said they would join.
France has indicated it will not join the board while the UK said it was ‘concerned’ that Putin had been invited
Trump will be chairman but also ‘separately serve’ as representative of the United States
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a nationalist who is Trump’s most ardent supporter in the European Union, is in, as is the United Arab Emirates, a close US partner.
Argentina’s President Javier Milei has confirmed his country’s participation, calling the invitation an ‘honour’.
Canada said it would take part, but explicitly ruled out paying the $1 billion fee for permanent membership.
Meanwhile, longtime US ally France has indicated it will not join. The response sparked an immediate threat from Trump to slap sky-high tariffs on French wine.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday that his country would not be joining with the text presented so far.
Norway’s government also revealed on Wednesday it would not join, with State Secretary Kristoffer Thoner saying in a statement: ‘The American proposal raises a number of questions’ requiring “further dialogue with the United States”.’
‘Norway will therefore not join the proposed arrangements for the Board of Peace, and will therefore not attend a signing ceremony in Davos,’ Thoner said, adding that Norway would still continue its close cooperation with the United States.
Zelensky said it would be ‘very hard’ to be a member of a council alongside Russia, and diplomats were ‘working on it’.
Britain echoed the sentiment, saying it was ‘concerned’ that Putin had been invited.
‘Putin is the aggressor in an illegal war against Ukraine, and he has shown time and time again he is not serious about peace,’ said a Downing Street spokesperson.
The charter says the board enters into force ‘upon expression of consent to be bound by three States’.
The executive board, chaired by Trump, will also include US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son in law Jared Kushner
The Board of Peace will be chaired by Trump, according to its founding charter.
Trump will be chairman but also ‘separately serve’ as representative of the United States.
‘The chairman shall have exclusive authority to create, modify or dissolve subsidiary entities as necessary or appropriate to fulfil the Board of Peace’s mission,’ the document states.
He will pick members of an executive board to be ‘leaders of global stature’ to ‘serve two-year terms, subject to removal by the chairman’.
The charter says the chairman can be replaced only in case of ‘voluntary resignation or as a result of incapacity’.
A US official confirmed that Trump can keep the chairmanship, even after leaving the White House, ‘until he resigns it’, although a future US president can appoint a different US representative.
The executive board, chaired by Trump, will also include US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son in law Jared Kushner, former UK PM Tony Blair, billionaire Marc Rowan, World Bank president Ajay Banga, Trump aide Robert Gabriel, and former Foreign Minister of Bulgaria Nickolay Mladenov.
