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Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-884127
Is Trump's Board of Peace an Alternative UN?
(Jerusalem Post) Herb Keinon - President Donald Trump unveiled his 20-point peace plan for Gaza in September. The Board of Peace was the ninth point. In four months, the Board has gone from a mechanism designed to oversee governance in Gaza to, according to its charter, "an international organization that seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict." In other words, an alternative United Nations. Trump said Tuesday that "I wish the United Nations could do more. I wish we didn't need a Board of Peace." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel would accept Trump's invitation to join the new world body. It is clearly in Israel's interest to be at the table where decisions about Gaza's future are being made. The Board could provide Israel with a channel to shape demilitarization arrangements, border controls, and monitoring mechanisms, rather than leaving those sensitive issues to be worked out among Turkey, Qatar, and Egypt. Joining the Board signals Israel's alignment with the Trump administration's foreign policy priorities and objectives. Israel has a clear interest in staying on the president's good side, and this is a relatively low-cost way of doing so. Moreover, if the rise of the Board ultimately weakens the standing of the UN, that would be a boon for Israel, given the UN's long record of entrenched bias toward Israel.