Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Wednesday that he had agreed to join a US-backed “board of peace” proposed by Donald Trump, despite his office having earlier criticised the composition of its executive committee.
The body, chaired by the US president, was initially presented as a limited forum of world leaders tasked with overseeing a ceasefire in Gaza. More recently, however, the initiative appears to have expanded well beyond that remit, with the Trump camp extending invitations to dozens of countries and suggesting the board could evolve into a vehicle for brokering conflicts far beyond the Middle East.
Diplomats have warned that the board could harm the work of the UN.
When asked by a reporter on Tuesday if the board should replace the UN, Trump said: “It might.”
He said the world body “hasn’t been very helpful” and “has never lived up to its potential”, but also said the UN should continue “because the potential is so great”.
Netanyahu’s office had previously objected to the makeup of the board’s executive committee, which includes Turkey, a regional rival of Israel. In a brief statement, it said the committee had been formed without coordination with the Israeli government and was “contrary to its policy”, without elaborating further.
Far-right members of Israel’s governing coalition on Sunday rejected the US-backed plan for postwar governance in Gaza, criticising Netanyahu for failing to annex the Palestinian territory and establish new Israeli settlements there.
However, on Sunday, Netanyahu’s office announced that he accepted the invitation of the US president’s invitations.
Countries that have already agreed to participate include the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Vietnam, Belarus, Hungary, Kazakhstan and Argentina. Others, among them the UK, Russia and the EU’s executive arm, have confirmed they have received invitations but are yet to respond.
A draft charter sent to about 60 countries by the US administration calls for members to contribute $1bn in cash if they want their membership to last more than three years, according to a document seen by Reuters.
“Each member state shall serve a term of no more than three years from this charter’s entry into force, subject to renewal by the chairman,” states the document, first reported by Bloomberg News. “The three-year membership term shall not apply to member states that contribute more than $1,000,000,000 in cash funds to the board of peace within the first year of the charter’s entry into force.”
Diplomats warned that the proposed “board of peace” appears to take aim at existing international institutions, including the UN. The charter’s board says the committee must have “the courage to depart from approaches and institutions that have too often failed”.
Trump has long been a vocal critic of the UN and earlier this month announced that the US would withdraw from 66 international organisations and treaties, around half of which are affiliated with the UN system.
Under the draft charter, membership of the board would be restricted to states invited by the chair. The chair would also be granted sweeping powers, including the authority to remove member states – subject to a two-thirds veto by the board – and to appoint a successor in the event of their own departure.
The Associated Press contributed to this report