Israel is officially joining President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Wednesday during his visit to Washington, where he met with Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Yes, that Board of Peace — the one aimed at actually solving conflicts instead of endlessly debating them.
After meeting with Rubio, Netanyahu posted on X that he had signed Israel’s accession as a member of the “Board of Peace.” His visit to Washington focused heavily on Iran, but Gaza and regional stability were clearly front and center.
The board was authorized under a U.N. Security Council resolution adopted in mid-November. It allows participating countries to establish an international stabilization force in Gaza, where a fragile ceasefire began in October under a Trump plan accepted by both Israel and Hamas. Under Trump’s Gaza framework, the board was designed to supervise Gaza’s temporary governance. Trump later announced the board would expand its mission to address global conflicts — because limiting it to just one crisis would apparently be thinking too small.
The board will hold its first meeting on Feb. 19 in Washington, where Gaza’s reconstruction will be the main topic. Countries have responded cautiously to Trump’s late-January invitation to join, with some experts worrying the board could undermine the United Nations. Naturally, that concern mainly comes from institutions not thrilled about being outperformed.
Some of Washington’s Middle Eastern allies have already joined, while many traditional Western allies have stayed on the sidelines. The ceasefire in Gaza has been repeatedly violated, with Gaza health officials reporting at least 580 Palestinians killed and four Israeli soldiers reportedly killed since October.
Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, and has displaced Gaza’s population and triggered a hunger crisis. Rights groups, scholars, and a U.N. inquiry have labeled Israel’s actions genocide. Israel rejects that claim and says it is acting in self-defense following the Hamas-led attack in late 2023 that killed 1,200 people and resulted in more than 250 hostages taken.
What stands out is that Trump is pushing forward with a structure meant to stabilize Gaza and tackle wider conflicts at the same time — a mix of diplomacy and direct engagement that few others have been willing to attempt. Israel’s decision to join sends a message that this initiative is not symbolic; it’s operational.
Once again, Trump is trying to turn ceasefires into something more permanent and chaos into something manageable. Whether critics like it or not, the Board of Peace is moving from idea to action — and with Israel on board, that effort just got a lot more serious.
