20-point draft plan<\/a> – would become coordinator of the “Board of Peace”.<\/p>\nThe transitional authority would be in charge of funding and managing the recovery of a post-war Gaza.<\/p>\n
According to Blair, the “bold and intelligent” plan could bring “immediate relief” and “the chance of a brighter and better future” to Palestinians.<\/p>\n
Others are not so sure.<\/p>\n
Blair to join Gaza International Transitional Authority<\/p>\n
Under Trump’s plan, Blair would join the Gaza International Transitional Authority (GITA).<\/p>\n
The group would operate close to Gaza’s southern border and be led by a council of between seven and 10 members, only one of which would be a Palestinian.<\/p>\n
They would “set the framework and handle the funding” for Gaza’s recovery “until such time as the Palestinian Authority has completed its reform program”.<\/p>\n
The document noted the group would be chaired by Trump, with other members. They could include “heads of state”, to be announced at a later date.<\/p>\n
Blair is the only planned member named in the document.<\/p>\n
It’s far from the first time the former Labour leader has been involved in the Middle East, a region where he is broadly hated.<\/p>\n
Blair was prime minister during the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, supporting the involvement of the British Armed Forces.<\/p>\n
The US and UK invaded Iraq on the basis of removing weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and toppling Saddam Hussein.<\/p>\n
A 2016 inquiry later singled out Blair in its condemnation of the UK’s involvement in the war.<\/p>\n
It alleged he had deliberately exaggerated the threat of Sadam Hussein, meaning the war was fought on the basis of “flawed” intelligence.<\/p>\n
The inquiry’s chairman, Sir John Chilcot, said he did not believe Blair had been “straight with the nation” about his decisions in the lead-up to the invasion.<\/p>\n
Blair has previously defended his decision to go to war as “the hardest, most momentous, most agonising” moment of his tenure as PM.<\/p>\n
Blair’s controversial legacy as Middle East envoy<\/p>\n
After his resignation in 2007, Blair was immediately made Middle East envoy for the “Quartet”, representing the United Nations, US, European Union, and Russia.<\/p>\n
The group was initially launched in 2002 to spearhead the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians.<\/p>\n
Instead, reports emerged of unease in Washington and Europe because of his alleged poor relationships with the Palestinian Authority.<\/p>\n
The White House dismissed these claims at the time.<\/p>\n
In 2015, Blair announced he would step down from his role – a decision welcomed by some, including the British group, Stop the War Coalition.<\/p>\n
The group’s national convener labelled Blair’s legacy as being one of “a devastated and war-torn Iraq, a Middle East in turmoil, and a much more dangerous world”.<\/p>\n
Blair should never have held the position, Stop the War’s Lindsey German told media.<\/p>\n
“We will continue to campaign against the aggressive foreign policy he championed and for him to answer charges of war crimes,” she said.<\/p>\n
Both the Quartet and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked him for his service.<\/p>\n
The Tony Blair Institute and White House meetings<\/p>\n
In the years following his stepping down as Middle East envoy, Blair has worked closely with leaders in the region via his non-profit organisation.<\/p>\n
The Tony Blair Institute (TBI) – officially the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change – advises on political strategy, policy and technology around the world.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, its staffers were allegedly part of a project which envisaged rebuilding a post-war Gaza as a trading hub.<\/p>\n
A slide deck seen by the Financial Times included references to a “Trump Riviera” and an “Elon Musk Smart Manufacturing Zone”.<\/p>\n
The project also proposed paying half a million Palestinians to leave Gaza and enticing private investors to develop the region.<\/p>\n
The institute did not author or endorse the slide deck, but did not deny its staff had been part of discussions surrounding the plan.<\/p>\n
In August, Blair joined a White House meeting with Trump regarding a post-war Gaza.<\/p>\n
Few details were given about the nature of discussions.<\/p>\n
Reports about his potential involvement in leading the transitional authority began several weeks ago.<\/p>\n
In his statement following the release of Trump’s plan, Blair thanked the US president for his “leadership, determination and commitment”.<\/p>\n
“It offers us the best chance of ending two years of war, misery and suffering,” he said.<\/p>\n
– ABC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Brianna Morris-Grant, ABC Former British prime minister Tony Blair. Photo: AFP \/ Fabrice Coffrini US President Donald…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52500,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[48,47,42,43,49,46,44,45,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-52499","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-audio","9":"tag-current-affairs","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-podcasts","13":"tag-public-radio","14":"tag-radio-new-zealand","15":"tag-rnz","16":"tag-top-news","17":"tag-top-stories","18":"tag-topnews","19":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}