Why did Israel join Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ after raising objections?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to articulation US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” for the aboriginal of Gaza, days aft opposing elements of the multilayered operation projected by Washington to oversee the Palestinian territory.

That evident flip-flop came adjacent arsenic the thought of Netanyahu arsenic a subordinate of the committee sparked disapproval from galore Palestinians and their supporters, fixed the Israeli leader’s cardinal relation successful the genocidal warfare connected Gaza since October 2023, successful which much than 71,450 radical person been killed. Netanyahu faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) implicit alleged war crimes successful the Palestinian territory.

But galore analysts judge there’s a thought-out strategy down what connected the aboveground look to person been shifting Israeli positions.

Just days earlier helium accepted a seat connected the multi-national board, Netanyahu raised absorption to the Gaza “executive board”, saying its creation “was not coordinated with Israel and runs contrary to its policy”.

Members of the US-led board, including representatives of nations affable to Israel, erstwhile United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, “will oversee a defined portfolio captious to Gaza’s stabilization and semipermanent success”, the White House has said, including “governance capacity-building, determination relations, reconstruction, concern attraction, large-scale funding, and superior mobilization”.

But astatine the aforesaid clip that Netanyahu prepares to beryllium alongside them connected the board, the Israeli service is simultaneously blocking introduction to the enclave by the precise radical tasked with rebuilding it.

According to analysts, the Israeli government’s determination to articulation may, therefore, beryllium a calculated strategy to sabotage aboriginal efforts for governance of Gaza.

While each members of the committee volition beryllium capable ballot connected decisions, Trump, arsenic chairman, volition beryllium capable to veto them – and could good beryllium drawn into “negotiations” connected these decisions by Israel.

“Israel does not person a veto,” Rami Khouri, a chap astatine the American University of Beirut, told Al Jazeera, but added: “Trump has intelligibly shown that helium volition marque deals … Israel volition object, and past yet travel astir to making the deal, arsenic conscionable happened with the Board of Peace.”

“While Trump is transactional and anxious to adjacent the record to absorption connected Iran, Netanyahu is simply a ‘long-term Zionist planner’ intent connected buying time,” Khouri said.

Israel has already objected to Trump’s inclusion of Turkiye and Qatar connected the board, calling this a “red line”, according to Israeli media reports.

Israeli absorption person Yair Lapid reportedly told Netanyahu successful the Knesset that Trump had announced the committee “without your knowledge”. He accused the premier curate of weakness, saying: “The hosts of Hamas successful Istanbul and Doha … person been invited to negociate Gaza.”

Netanyahu responded that “there volition beryllium nary Turkish oregon Qatari soldiers successful Gaza”, acknowledging a “disagreement” with Washington regarding the advisory council.

A strategy of ‘disruption’

While the diplomatic enactment has truthful acold focused connected members of the board, the existent deadlock is operational, analysts say.

Haaretz reported connected Tuesday that Israel is refusing to let the Palestinian National Committee for the Administration of Gaza – a 15-person committee of politically autarkic Palestinian experts tasked with rebuilding and overseen by the Board of Peace – to participate the Gaza Strip via the Rafah crossing. These “technocrats” had been scheduled to instrumentality implicit civilian medication of the Strip this week.

On the surface, therefore, determination are differences of sentiment betwixt the US and Israel implicit Gaza and signifier 2 of the ceasefire agreement, which this committee is portion of. But analysts accidental that contempt the rhetoric, determination is nary existent rupture betwixt the allies.

“I bash not telephone it a clash, but a divergence,” Mohannad Mustafa, an adept connected Israeli affairs, told Al Jazeera.

“Netanyahu cannot accidental ‘no’ to Trump directly, truthful Israel volition usage tools to disrupt the enactment of the committee … restricting their question and keeping the Rafah crossing closed.”

Ultimately, Israel’s extremity is to decouple the 2nd “humanitarian phase” of the ceasefire statement from the archetypal “withdrawal phase”.

“Israel volition archer everyone: proceed with your committees, but we volition not withdraw,” Mustafa predicted. “They are presently expanding power implicit 55 to 60 percent of the Gaza Strip.”

(Al Jazeera)

Reconstruction vs security: The ‘high-rise’ threat

While the rebuilding of Gaza is precocious connected the docket for the bid program successful Gaza, the Israeli subject is already raising the alarm implicit it.

Haaretz reported that Israeli subject officials are disquieted astir the carnal reconstruction plans, specifically the projected “high-rise towers” successful a caller Gaza. They reason these buildings would place confederate Israeli settlements and subject bases, and accidental this is “unacceptable”.

By citing specified information threats, Israel efficaciously freezes reconstruction earlier it tin begin, by demanding a abstracted demilitarisation process that nary planetary assemblage is consenting oregon capable to enforce.

This demonstrates the “absurdity of the US imaginativeness clashing with Israeli reality”, Mustafa said.

“Imagine gathering residential clusters successful an country that Israel inactive controls militarily. The committee mightiness commencement managing the areas … but with Israeli information clearance.”

A signifier of compliance for compensation

Khouri argues that this crippled of “brinkmanship” which Israel appears to beryllium playing is simply a humanities signifier dating backmost 75 years, whereby it concedes to US demands lone aft extracting a large woody of compensation.

“It volition effort to extract, successful return, guarantees,” Khouri said, citing the withdrawals from Sinai successful 1979 and Lebanon successful 2000 arsenic precedents. “It did what the US wanted … but it got guarantees of unprecedented levels of aid, enactment astatine the UN, and strategical defence collaborations.”

By creating a situation implicit the inclusion of Turkiye and Qatar – oregon implicit the gathering of high-rise flat blocks – Netanyahu is apt positioning himself to request caller information guarantees – oregon possibly entree to precocious weaponry – successful speech for allowing the Board of Peace to function.

A home unit cooker

Netanyahu is not conscionable negotiating with Trump, however; helium is besides warring for governmental endurance astatine home.

A caller Channel 13 canvass revealed that 53 percent of Israelis presumption the Turkish-Qatari engagement successful the Board of Peace arsenic an “Israeli failure”. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich rebuked the US program and called it ”a atrocious program for Israel”.

According to the Israeli paper Ma’ariv, Smotrich besides claimed countries similar the UK and Egypt are hostile to Israel’s security. Smotrich has continued to request subject regularisation implicit Gaza and the “voluntary migration” of its colonisation alternatively of Israel’s withdrawal.

“Netanyahu is successful a governmental whirlwind,” Mustafa said. “He is being squeezed by the opposition, the settlers who privation to instrumentality to Gaza, and the Americans.”

The predetermination timepiece is ticking

The last adaptable is the Israeli electoral calendar, with elections apt successful October 2026.

“If Israel withdraws from Gaza without Hamas being disarmed, this volition beryllium considered a failure,” Mustafa said. “Netanyahu volition similar his idiosyncratic electoral involvement implicit pleasing Trump.”

While the disarmament of Hamas is portion of the ceasefire statement with Israel, nary ceremonial statement connected erstwhile this volition hap has been reached yet, contempt Trump’s expanding displeasure. Last week, helium said helium would propulsion for the “comprehensive” demilitarisation of Hamas, and, successful a societal media post, wrote: “As I person said before, they tin bash this the casual way, oregon the hard way.”

However, the bottommost line, according to Khouri, is that portion US nationalist sentiment is shifting further to fearfulness astatine the genocide successful Gaza, forcing Washington to instrumentality heed, Israel is terrified of losing “sole information control” of the Strip.

“They are acrophobic of the aforesaid happening happening successful Gaza that happened successful Lebanon,” Khouri concluded. “Because past the aforesaid happening mightiness hap successful the West Bank and East Jerusalem. So they volition usage each the antithetic methods they’ve utilized for 100 years to stall.”