Board of Peace or a Golem
JVL Introduction
Late last year the UN Security Council endorsed Trump’s proposal to set up a ‘Board of Peace’ to oversee a peace process for Gaza and its reconstruction because many states viewed this as the only way to constrain Netanyahu’s drive to unending war and genocide. Much of the “international community” believed it was the only way to keep Trump engaged with building peace in Gaza instead of losing interest and moving on to his latest fancy..
A mixture of desperation and naivety led them to approve a catastrophically under specified proposal. Historians will try to understand how they convinced themselves that Trump would act with restraint and not use the Security Council mandate for personal aggrandisement and enrichment; we, and of course the Palestinians, will have to live with the consequences. The Board’s Charter does not even mention Gaza but that has not stopped Trump and Jered Kushner promoting Mar a Gaza. Like the Prague rabbis the world’s leaders have given life to a Golem: unlike the rabbis they lack the ability to deactivate the Golem when it turns on its creators.
Trump’s first act has been to unilaterally draw up the list of heads of state invited to join the Board. Many of the invitees have as little grasp as Trump himself of the concept of peace. Some have succumbed to the flattery of being asked; others have joined in order to ingratiate themselves; some from fear of reprisal from the capriciousness of Trump if they declined; some in the probably vain hope of restraining Trump’s most destructive impulses. It is not yet clear how many will have paid the billion-dollar tribute for “permanent” membership; it is even less clear where any bribe money paid will go.
It seems likely that the Board itself will be mainly ceremonial and have little or no influence on the seven-man executive board it is claimed to supervise. In turn, one has to doubt whether this hand-picked clique of flunkies will have any control over the grand panjandrum and executive chairman, Donald J Trump in his vainglorious effort to create a “bold new approach to resolving global conflicts”.
The Board is the instantiation of the the American dominant world laid out in last year’s National Security Strategy analysed here in The Most Dangerous Publication since Mein Kampf.
We reproduce an article by Abid Hussain that attempts to explain the process and how any concern for Gaza has been subsumed by Trump’s ego. Events move fast in Trumpland and some details have changed since this was published but the analysis remains pertinent.We also provide links to other articles of use in trying to make sense of these events.
MC
This article was originally published by Al Jazeera on Wed 21 Jan 2026. Read the original here.
Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’: Who has joined, who hasn’t – and why
Before a signing ceremony planned for Thursday, several nations have agreed to join the board. But many haven’t. We unpack why.
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As always with Trump the unsaid may be more important than the spoken words. Who will hold the billion dollars? Where will it be invested before it hits the final destination? What is the final destination? What happens when Trump dies or leaves the presidency?
I am sure others can provide even more questions..
Many of Trump’s projects arrogantly expect the other parties in the “deal” to take all the risks and pay all the costs, while Trump enjoys all the benefits. That pattern is evident in his approach to “supporting” Ukraine; interfering in Venezuela; and “rebuilding” Gaza.
Trump shares with scammers a talent for winkling out all sorts of short-lived opportunities for raking in shedloads of cash in the short intervals before his schemes fall apart. It’s TELLING how little effort was put into the KEY BoP video presentation at Davos . Basic mistakes in Arabic text would have annoyed the Arab BoP invitees. Presentational claims blithely ignored problems each large enough to sink the BoP.
One of the worst aspects of the BoP project (hateful and destructive as it is) is the delay it’ll cause before it collapses. The Palestinians, Israelis and Iranians can’t afford that waste of time and goodwill.
China will not go along with this. It will seek to support and strengthen the UN – and further isolate the USA. This will be hugely importamt geopolitically.
This is obviously another one of Trump’s money making schemes where trump stands to benefit more than anyone else and the beauty of this one, for Trumpo. is that the Palestinians are not in a position to sue him when he says the money is gone. as for the title and his claim to have brought peace to the Middle East can someone tell him that No one had been killed in Iran before he started bombing their Nuclear Fuel facility and the Iranians merely retaliated to the Israeli attacks. at the same time can someone inform him that 480 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since his famous peace deal for Gaza and the West Bank continues to be attacked and chopped up into bite sized pieces for resale on the internet and in a special London Property Show.
@ Margaret – I agree with you … BUT today I came across a “Times of Israel” blog that suggests Trump’s “Board of Peace” puts America and Israel at greater risk of being successfully sued. Please read: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/how-the-board-of-peace-becomes-an-ngo-lawfare-tool/
The article didn’t cover whether Trump was laying himself open to being sued in his own right.
As Chairman of the Board who claims the right to decide who joins the Board, who gets sacked and under what conditions they serve, Trump clearly has “control” over it. Ordinarily, someone with “control” over an organisation is sometimes personally liable for its acts and omissions.