Tony Blair Dropped From Trump's Gaza Plan After Regional Objections: Report
As per the Financial Times report, the former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has been removed from the US President Donald Trump’s proposed ‘board of peace’ for Gaza, following objections from ‘several Arab and Muslim states’.
Blair was the only publicly identified person on the board under the 20-point postwar plan for Gaza in late September. Trump has described him at the time as ‘a very good man’, while Blair responded, calling the proposal ‘bold and intelligent’, signalling his willingness to join the board.
As per the recent FT report, multiple Arab and Muslim states opposed Blair’s appointment, partly due to the ‘damage to his reputation in the region by his staunch support for the US-led 2003 invasion of Iraq. There were also concerns that Palestinians would be marginalised in the proposed governance structure.
The report suggests that Blair’s ally responded by refuting that he was removed due to regional objections; rather, the board will be made up of serving world leaders, and Blair did not qualify as a former PM.
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Notably, Trump himself acknowledged in October that Blair’s role might face opposition.
According to the FT report, the postwar governance plan for Gaza has been quietly reconfigered in recent weeks. The emerging executive committee will be led by former UN envoy and Bulgarian defense minister Nickolay Mladenov. This committee -not orginially included in Trump’s plan – is expected to co-ordinate between the board of peace and a Palestine technocratic committee.
Reportedly, Blair had been developing Gaza proposals for more than a year through the Tony Blair Institute, coordinating with Kushner and other aligned with the Trump administration.
No government has publicly committed to join the international stabilization force envisioned in the proposal, and there is no clarity over its mandate, size and command structure yet.
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