Netanyahu Accepts Trump’s Invitation to Join ‘Board of Peace’ as Europe Pushes Back

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

(Worthy News) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted an invitation from U.S. President Donald Trump to join the newly proposed Board of Peace, his office confirmed Wednesday, as a growing number of European governments signaled they will not participate in the initiative.

The U.S.-backed board, which Trump has proposed chairing for life, is designed to begin with the Gaza conflict before expanding its scope to other global wars. Permanent membership would require a reported $1 billion contribution from each participating country. Western diplomats have warned that the structure could undermine the authority of the United Nations, an institution Trump has repeatedly criticized as ineffective in resolving major conflicts.

Netanyahu’s decision comes despite his earlier objections to Washington’s inclusion of Turkey and Qatar in the Board of Peace’s Gaza operational arm, known as the Gaza Executive Board. Israeli officials had initially expressed concern that joining the broader framework could legitimize actors Jerusalem views as problematic.

Egypt also confirmed its participation, with the foreign ministry announcing that President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi had accepted Trump’s invitation. Cairo praised Trump’s Middle East policies and said it supports the board’s role in advancing the second phase of a comprehensive plan to end the Gaza conflict.

Alongside Israel and Egypt, countries accepting invitations include Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam. The UAE said it is ready to actively contribute to the board’s mission, linking its support to Trump’s broader Gaza peace plan and the pursuit of regional stability.

However, resistance among European nations has intensified. Spain said European leaders are consulting to form a common position, while France said it “cannot accept” the proposal at this stage. Italy, according to Corriere della Sera, will not participate, citing constitutional concerns about joining an international body dominated by a single country’s leader.

Nordic nations were among the most explicit in their refusals. Norway said it would not join or attend a signing ceremony in Davos, stressing the need for alignment with established international structures such as the UN. Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson echoed that position, saying the initiative, as currently drafted, is unacceptable.

Adding to Western unease, the Kremlin confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin had been invited, and Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff suggested Moscow was likely to join. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has already accepted an invitation.

Trump is expected to formally mark the launch of the Board of Peace during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Speaking there, the president claimed progress toward peace in the Middle East, asserting—despite public denials from the group—that Hamas had agreed to disarm, while warning of swift consequences if it failed to do so.

The Board of Peace was initially presented as a Gaza-focused postwar mechanism and was granted a two-year mandate by the UN Security Council in November. Yet its newly circulated charter makes no explicit reference to Gaza and calls for moving beyond “approaches and institutions that have too often failed,” language widely interpreted as a critique of the UN. When asked whether the board should replace the United Nations, Trump replied, “It might.”

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