Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Wednesday that the premier has accepted U.S. President Donald Trump’s invitation to join the Board of Peace.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that he accepts the invitation of U.S. President Donald Trump and will become a member of the Board of Peace, which is to be comprised of world leaders,” the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
A signing ceremony for the Board of Peace will be held on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday.
The U.S. president has said that the body will “solidify peace in the Middle East” through a “new approach to resolving global conflict.”
According to the invitation letter, which was first shared on social media by Argentine President Javier Milei on Saturday, the proposed board will be at the center of Washington’s Gaza plan and would be established as a “new international organization” to temporarily govern the enclave.
“Our effort will bring together a distinguished group of nations ready to shoulder the noble responsibility of building lasting peace,” Trump said in the missive to Milei, calling membership of the international body an “honor reserved for those prepared to lead by example” and “brilliantly invest in a secure and prosperous future for generations to come.”
While the organization’s efforts will initially focus on the Gaza Strip, the body “is like a new United Nations,” Netanyahu told Knesset lawmakers during a debate on Monday, Israel Hayom reported. He added: “I was invited to it, and so was [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan.”
Bloomberg reported on Monday that Trump had issued 52 invitations to governments spanning Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas, as well as to the European Commission, the E.U.'s executive branch.
Sweden on Wednesday became the third country to formally decline Trump’s invitation, following Norway and France, which earlier this week rejected the proposal to join the Board of Peace.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced he would decline Washington’s request during a conversation with reporters in Davos.
Netanyahu’s office over the weekend slammed the inclusion of Turkey, Qatar and Egypt in the Gaza Executive Board, which is subordinate to the Board of Peace and will advise its members.
The announcement of the board’s establishment “was not coordinated with Israel and runs contrary to its policy,” according to the statement.
It added that Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar was instructed to discuss the matter with his American counterpart, Marco Rubio, who was named on Friday as a founding member of the Executive Board.
“We have a certain argument with our friends in the United States over the composition of the Executive Board that will oversee the processes in Gaza,” Netanyahu confirmed in his Knesset speech on Monday.
However, he vowed, the Hamas terrorist organization will be disarmed “either the easy way or the hard way,” and Jerusalem will not allow any Qatari or Turkish soldiers to enter Gaza under Trump’s peace plan.
The premier claimed his government secured a diplomatic achievement by defying Trump’s demand that Doha and Ankara “enter Gaza and run it like owners,” saying the two countries ended up “barely members of the committee and with no influence” following negotiations he led.
