WASHINGTON: On Friday, US President Donald Trump nominated a US general to head a new security force and granted former British Prime Minister Tony Blair a significant position in post-war Gaza. As he advances a contentious plan for economic growth in a region that is in ruins following more than two years of unrelenting Israeli bombardment, Trump appointed members of an American-dominated board to assist in overseeing Gaza.
The action was taken after Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a major player in the Middle East, attended the inaugural meeting of a Palestinian committee of technocrats intended to run Gaza in Cairo.
Trump has already proclaimed himself the chair of a “Board of Peace,” and on Friday he revealed that Blair and other senior Americans, including Kushner, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Steve Witkoff, Trump’s former business partner who is now a global negotiator, will be among its full membership.
Blair’s involvement in the 2003 invasion of Iraq has made him a contentious figure in the Middle East. Last year, Trump stated that he wanted to ensure Blair was a “choice that everyone could accept. After leaving Downing Street in 2007, Blair spent years focusing on the Israeli-Palestinian issue as a representative of the “Middle East Quartet,” which comprises the United Nations, the European Union, the United States, and Russia.
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