Michael Arria
Mondoweiss / January 22, 2026
On Thursday, Donald Trump formally announced his so-called “Board of Peace” during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The body has been widely criticized as an attempt by Trump to undermine the UN and ’takeover the world order.’
On Thursday, President Donald Trump held a signing ceremony for his so-called “Board of Peace” during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“As everyone can see today, the first steps toward a brighter day for the Middle East and a much safer future for the world are unfolding right before your very eyes,” Trump told the crowd.
The ceremony comes more than three months after a ceasefire was declared in Gaza, the Trump administration has unveiled the second phase of its “peace plan” for the region.
The 20-point plan is allegedly aimed at reconstructing Gaza and demilitarizing Palestine. It also established the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), an interim government made up of Palestinian technocrats, which will be supervised by the Board of Peace.
“The U.S. expects Hamas to comply fully with its obligations, including the immediate return of the final deceased hostage. Failure to do so will bring serious consequences,” declared Trump Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in a statement last week.
Witkoff is a founding executive member of the Board of Peace, which also includes former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Members and mission raise questions
Trump, who will serve as the board’s chair, called it “the Greatest and Most Prestigious Board ever assembled at any time, any place.” He’s inviting countries to join the board for a three-year term, but they can extend their tenure by paying $1 billion.
The Foreign Ministers of Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Qatar, and the UAE put out a joint statement accepting Trump’s offer to join.
“I think we have north of 20, maybe 25 world leaders who have already accepted,” said Witkoff.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is among the leaders who joined the board, despite initially expressing misgivings. Some analysts believe that Israel’s acceptance of the invitation might be a strategy aimed at destroying any possibility of Gaza governance.
“Israel does not have a veto,” American University of Beirut fellow Rami Khouri told Al-Jazeera. “Trump has clearly shown that he will make deals … Israel will object, and then ultimately come around to making the deal, as just happened with the Board of Peace.”
“While Trump is transactional and eager to close the file to focus on Iran, Netanyahu is a ‘long-term Zionist planner’ intent on buying time,” he added.
Business leaders such as Apollo Global Management CEO Mark Rowan and Israeli billionaire Yakir Gabay will also serve on the board.
In 2023, Rowan called on University of Pennsylvania leaders to resign and for donors to cut off funds to the school in response to the Palestine Writes Literature Festival being held on campus.
“It took less than two weeks to go from the Palestine Writes literary festival on the University of Pennsylvania’s campus to the barbaric slaughter and kidnapping of Israelis,” wrote Rowan, referencing the October 7 Hamas attack.
“The polarizing Palestine Writes gathering featured well-known antisemites and fomenters of hate and racism, and it was underwritten, supported and hosted by various UPenn academic departments and affiliates,” he continued. “At a gathering supposedly focused on Palestinian arts, culture and poetry, the presenters focused on Jews, Israel and Zionism.”
Yakir Gabay’s father, Meir Gabay, served as director-general of Israel’s Ministry of Justice, and his mother, Yemima Gabay, held a senior position there.
“The inclusion of Rowan and Gabay on the Board of Peace has prompted scrutiny over how Gaza’s reconstruction will be shaped, particularly regarding investment conditions, ownership structures, and political oversight,” notes The Palestine Chronicle.
“The Board of Peace is an international organization that seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict,” reads the group’s charter. “The Board of Peace shall undertake such peace-building functions in accordance with international law and as may be approved in accordance with this Charter, including the development and dissemination of best practices capable of being applied by all nations and communities seeking peace.”
The document does not mention Gaza at all, but it seemingly takes aim at the United Nations (UN) and its role on the global stage.
“The Board of Peace is an international organisation that seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict,” says the charter. “Durable peace requires pragmatic judgment, common sense solutions, and the courage to depart from approaches and institutions that have too often failed.”
For decades, the UN has faced criticism from pro-Israel advocates who claim that the international body “singles out” the country over its human rights abuses.
Sources connected to the matter told Bloomberg that several nations opposed the charter and are working to “collectively pushing back against the proposals.”
‘A takeover of the world order’
The board has been heavily criticized by many Middle East experts and analysts.
“As made clear by its Charter, the so-called “Board of Peace” is a lawless, autocratic mechanism headed by Donald Trump in his personal capacity, with few checks or balances, and no territorial limits, composed of U.S. vassals, war criminals, Zionist billionaires, and global grifters, and at least two genocidaires, offering premium membership to those paying a billion dollar bribe, and designed to side-step international law and international institutions,” human rights lawyer and former United Nations official Craig Mokhiber told Mondoweiss. “What could possibly go wrong?”
“[The board’s] most likely fate is to remain a vanity project, while the rest of the world is stuck with the invitation from hell. Refusal to join, as France has tried, is punished by vengeful tariffs from a petty president,” wrote Guardian Senior international correspondent Julian Borger.
“Joining the board, on the other hand, involves undermining the UN, submission to Trump’s will and acquiescence in his vision of future of world governance – an imperial court where vassal states pay cash and vie for the ear of the orange emperor,” she continued.
“This initiative is likely to be seen as a takeover of the world order by one individual in his own image,” Cambridge international law professor Marc Weller told The New York Times.
Michael Arria is Mondoweiss’ U.S. correspondent
