Sa’ar to represent Israel at inaugural Board of Peace meeting, after PM declines to attend

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar to represent Israel at the inaugural Board of Peace meeting in Washington, DC next Thursday, a diplomatic source told The Times of Israel on Saturday evening.

Netanyahu was in Washington last week for a meeting with US President Donald Trump, amid the acute tensions between the US and Iran. The premier decided not to return for AIPAC’s annual conference and the Board of Peace meeting, where the Trump administration hopes to raise money for the international body.

Joining Sa’ar at the February 19 meeting will be joined by more senior heads of state from Argentina, Cambodia, Hungary, Indonesia, Pakistan and Vietnam. Bahrain’s King Hamad Al Khalifa is also slated to attend, according to an Arab diplomat. All 28 countries on the panel are expected to send a representative, but each is deciding how senior of an official to send, the diplomat said.

The Board of Peace is tasked with overseeing the Gaza Strip’s transition to a postwar, non-Hamas government, in accordance with the US’s 20-point plan for the territory.

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, however, said on Saturday that his country cannot commit funds for the reconstruction of the Strip until it has more clarity regarding the yet-to-be-implemented withdrawal of Israeli forces and the disarmament of Hamas; he said the meeting on Thursday may clear things up.

Asked at the Munich Security Conference whether Riyadh will fund Gaza’s reconstruction and on what terms, Prince Faisal responded that his country is “fully supportive” of the Board of Peace and Trump’s 20-point plan. However, he stressed that, “We need to see a real end to the conflict.”

“That means we need to have clarity on when Israel is going to withdraw, when Hamas is going to disarm, when everyone is going to comply with all 20 points of the 20-point plan,” Prince Faisal said.

“The US is working on that. There’s a meeting on the 19th that will give us a lot more clarity,” he noted, referring to the Board of Peace fundraising meeting.

The US is hoping to announce $1.25 billion donations from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait, a US official and two Arab diplomats told The Times of Israel earlier this week. The New York Times reported that the US is also planning on making a similar donation.

The Saudi foreign minister said that Riyadh will be in a better position to determine “where we can best contribute toward — not just reconstruction, but also that the people of Gaza and Palestine can have a better future.”

The US plan for Gaza was unveiled in September, and it was envisioned by Washington as the end-goal of the ceasefire-hostage deal it brokered between Israel and the Hamas terror group, after two years of war sparked by the Hamas-led attack against Israel on October 7, 2023.

Even though the US-brokered truce entered its second phase last month, violence has continued in the coastal territory, with Israel and the terror group trading blame.

Its second phase stipulates that Israeli forces gradually withdraw from Gaza and Hamas disarm, with an international stabilization force deployed to ensure security.

Hamas has repeatedly said, however, that disarmament is a red line, although it has indicated it could consider handing over its weapons to a future Palestinian governing authority.