Josh Gruenbaum, a former private equity investor who joined the Trump administration last year to lead the Federal Acquisition Service and has recently been detailed to the White House, has departed the federal government, a source with knowledge of the move told Jewish Insider. 

Gruenbaum will continue serving as a senior advisor to the Board of Peace — a role he has held since earlier this year, with a focus on Gaza — in an unpaid capacity. He is set to join an investment firm. Gruenbaum declined to comment. 

“The Board of Peace is thankful for Josh’s contributions in advancing the president’s vision of peace and prosperity in the Middle East,” a Board of Peace spokesperson told JI on Thursday. “We appreciate his continued engagement as a senior advisor for the Board as we pursue the next steps in implementing a sustainable reconstruction for the people of Gaza and peace for all peoples in the region.” 

Gruenbaum quickly rose through the ranks of the administration after taking a DOGE-style approach to the FAS, the agency that oversees federal contracts. In that role, he served on the Trump administration’s interagency antisemitism task force. 

He joined Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner’s negotiating team earlier this year, appearing with them at a meeting in Russia with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and moved over to the White House in April. 

Gruenbaum’s conduct at FAS came under review by the General Services Administration this year related to questions about whether he improperly communicated with department staff about a bid from a payments processing company that was backed by a venture capital firm Gruenbaum had invested in, The Wall Street Journal reported in May. (FAS is a part of the larger GSA.) 

Kushner has continued raising money for his own private equity fund while also serving as a top U.S. negotiator in the Middle East, which has raised ethics concerns.

As Hamas reportedly continues to reject the U.S.-led Board of Peace’s disarmament framework and fails to comply with key demilitarization deadlines, the future of the fragile Gaza peace process remains uncertain.

Disarming Hamas is a central pillar of President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace initiative, which secured the release of the remaining Israeli hostages and included a partial Israeli military withdrawal from eastern Gaza. Its second phase has hinged on Hamas laying down its arms — a step that is expected to pave the way for further IDF withdrawal from the enclave and a transition to governance by the 15-member National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, led by Ali Shaath and operating under the Board of Peace.

Last month, Nickolay Mladenov, the Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza, presented a framework for demilitarization and set a deadline for the end of last week for Hamas to disarm. Reports indicate the group rejected the proposal, accusing Mladenov of bias toward Israel and blaming Jerusalem for not completely fulfilling its obligations under the first phase of the plan. 

U.S. and Hamas negotiators held the first direct talks between the parties since the announcement of the Gaza ceasefire in October 2025 on Tuesday night, CNN reported. Senior U.S. advisor Aryeh Lightstone and Mladenov met with Khalil al-Hayaa, a chief Hamas negotiator, in Cairo, where Mladenov communicated that Hamas must accept the terms of the demilitarization agreement “or face a return to war.” 

Former White House officials are split over the path forward and whether the Trump administration should escalate pressure on Hamas or stay the course.

Dan Shapiro, who served as U.S. ambassador to Israel under President Barack Obama and was appointed by then-President Joe Biden in 2021 to serve as special liaison to Israel on Iran, said Hamas is unlikely to disarm voluntarily, arguing the group would only do so “under duress.” One potential avenue, he said, would be renewed Israeli military action, though he emphasized that such a move would be both costly and unlikely.

“[Israeli military action] would come at an enormous price in civilian casualties, given Hamas’ embedded position within Gaza’s population,” Shapiro said, adding that it is “highly unlikely the Trump administration would lend its support to such an operation” and that it would deal “further blows to Israel’s international support.”

Instead, Shapiro pointed to regional pressure as a more viable path, particularly from Qatar and Turkey, which he said have previously used their leverage to influence Hamas.

“The other source of pressure on Hamas would be the threat of Qatar and Turkey to withdraw their political, financial and hosting support of the organization,” Shapiro said. “They were the parties who used their unique leverage with Hamas after the Israeli strike in Doha to convince Hamas to release all hostages. Trump should engage their leaders, as he did in that period, to convince them to use their leverage again, this time to pressure Hamas to disarm.”

However, Shapiro cautioned that the war in Iran has diverted U.S. attention and “may have reduced Trump’s ability to influence key regional leaders, like [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan and the emir of Qatar, to take this necessary action on Hamas disarmament.”

Elliott Abrams, a former Iran envoy under the first Trump administration, similarly noted that Hamas “hasn’t changed its spots.” He said that Hamas leaders “obviously think a disarmed Hamas is a dying Hamas; without ‘armed struggle’ they believe they will disappear and become just another political party.”

“What Mladenov and the U.S. government need to figure out is what happens to the Board of Peace and to U.S. policy if Hamas won’t disarm,” Abrams said. “I think the answer is to prevent any arms and money from being smuggled into the half of Gaza that Hamas still controls, and to develop the half of Gaza under Israeli control.”

“No one seems to want to invade and conquer western Gaza, including the IDF,” Abrams added. “Perhaps over time, Gazans will begin migrating to the parts of Gaza where life can be lived without Hamas.”

Meanwhile, Alexander Gray, former chief of staff to the National Security Council during Trump’s first term, offered a more supportive view of the administration’s current strategy, calling it “realistic.”

“While we must continue to work with Israel to ensure Hamas is unable to wage war against our partners and allies and terrorize the region, we must also be realistic about the nature of the organization and its leadership,” Gray said. “The administration’s vision for a prosperous Gaza and secure Israel must continue apace, while appropriate and realistic steps are taken to prevent Hamas from acting true to its charter and perpetrating further death and destruction.”

President Donald Trump used the occasion of the first meeting of the Board of Peace in Washington on Thursday to announce significant monetary and troop commitments from the U.S. and other countries to stabilize Gaza, as well as lay out a timeline for military action against Iran.

“I want to let you know that the United States is going to make a contribution of $10 billion to the Board of Peace,” Trump said at the United States Institute of Peace, where several foreign leaders gathered for the meeting.

The president also named, for the first time, which countries have agreed to make additional financial contributions to the reconstruction of Gaza: Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Kuwait “have all contributed more than $7 billion toward the relief package,” Trump said. 

The meeting comes as the administration works to address several issues in the Middle East, including rising tensions with Iran. The U.S. has amassed a large collection of military assets in the region in preparation for a potential strike, as the two sides attempt to negotiate a nuclear deal. 

Trump said in his remarks, “Now we may have to take it a step further or we may not. Maybe we are going to make a deal [with Iran]. You are going to be finding out over the next probably 10 days.”
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One later in the day, Trump said, “I would think that would be enough time — 10, 15 days, pretty much maximum.” Last June, Trump said he would decide whether to take action against Iran within two weeks, and carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities two days later. 

During the meeting, Trump also called on Iran to “join” the board “on a path that will complete what we’re doing.”

“If they [Iran] join us, that will be great. If they don’t join us, that will be great too, but it will be a very different path,” the president said. “They cannot continue to threaten the stability of the entire region, and they must make a deal. Or if that doesn’t happen, I maybe can understand if it doesn’t happen, but bad things will happen.”

Trump also announced that several countries would contribute personnel to an International Stabilization Force tasked broadly with securing Gaza and upholding the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel. Morocco, Albania, Kosovo and Kazakhstan “have all committed troops and police to stabilize Gaza,” he said. Indonesia vowed prior to the meeting to also contribute personnel to the body’s mission. 

The president added that “Egypt and Jordan are likewise providing very, very substantial help, troops, training and support for a very trustworthy Palestinian police force. We think we’re getting some very good people on that police force.”

However, despite the announcements, questions remain over how effective the pledges will be. Hamas continues to maintain a presence in Gaza and has thus far refused to disarm or relinquish governing authority — a dynamic that could complicate reconstruction and stability efforts. Trump has not clearly defined the operational scope of the International Stabilization Force, including whether its members would be expected to confront Hamas directly or focus on traditional peacekeeping functions.

Despite those uncertainties, Trump still expressed confidence that Hamas would comply with disarmament commitments.

“[Hamas] made a promise, and they promised me they would get rid of their weapons. Looks like they’re going to be doing that,” Trump said, adding that if they do not, “they’ll be very harshly met.” Since announcing the Board of Peace, Trump has made similar threats to Hamas numerous times. 

He also said there are “two countries that want to go in and do a number on Hamas,” without specifying which countries, but added, “I really don’t think that’s going to be necessary, because [Hamas] they made a promise.” The ISF is not expected to play a role in countering Hamas. 

During his address, the president also took a moment to acknowledge the foreign leaders of member countries that had shown up to back the announcement, including offering praise for Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s prime minister. Despite widespread criticism of Doha’s ties to Hamas officials and support for the terrorist organization, Trump strongly defended the leader against accusations that he and his country are “evil.” 

“His excellency, Prime Minister Al Thani of Qatar, just a great and highly respected man,” said Trump. “I always say he needs a public relations agency because you do so much good, and they have you down as evil, and you’re not evil. You help us so much and you’re such a good ally.” 

Meanwhile, Trump signaled that he hopes to broaden the Board of Peace’s membership, though several leaders of major U.S. allies — including the United Kingdom, Germany and France — have indicated they do not plan to take part. 

Trump also withdrew an invitation previously extended to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney after the leader delivered remarks critical of the initiative at last month’s World Economic Forum in Davos.

“So many of our friends in Europe are attending today, and we’re eager to have them become full members,” said Trump. “And we’ve had a great response from Europe. I’m excited to announce that Norway has agreed to host an event bringing together the board of peace.”

Trump also addressed the board’s relationship with the United Nations, amid questions about whether the new body is intended to complement or rival existing international institutions. He positioned the board as senior to the U.N., and that the two bodies would work “very closely.”

“We’re going to bring them back. I think the United Nations has great potential, really great potential. It has not lived up to potential,” said Trump. “The United Nations will be much stronger, and the Board of Peace is going to almost be looking over the United Nations and making sure it runs properly. But we’re going to strengthen the United Nations. We’re going to make sure its facilities are good. They need help, and they need help money wise. We’re going to help them money wise, and we’re going to make sure the United Nations is viable.” 

High-level foreign officials, top diplomats and heads of state will gather in Washington today for the first in-person convening of the Trump administration’s Board of Peace — as U.S. military assets flow into the Middle East and President Donald Trump mulls a potentially weekslong sustained military campaign in Iran.

The gathering, ostensibly focused on the disarmament of Hamas and the establishment of a peace-aligned administration in the Gaza Strip, comes as the U.S. moves dozens of fighter jets and support aircraft to the region — reportedly the largest buildup in military air power since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

It’s a split screen befitting the president — who said at his inauguration last year that his “proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker,” and who has claimed success in negotiating an end to numerous conflicts, as well as the release of the remaining Israeli hostages from Gaza last year — even as the U.S. has used force to enact political change, such as in Venezuela.

But a U.S. operation in Iran would differ significantly from what took place in Venezuela last month. In the place of ousted President Nicolás Maduro is Delcy Rodríguez, the former vice president who is now working with the Trump administration. No such natural successor to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei exists. Behind the supreme leader is a laundry list of equally — if not more — radical hard-liners eager to take the ailing Khamenei’s place. Reza Pahlavi, the son of the deposed shah of Iran, who has spent most of his life living in exile, has sought to return to Iran to usher the Islamic Republic into a new democratic era — but does not appear to have the on-the-ground support as well as enough legitimacy among Iran’s vast diaspora community. 

The Trump administration continues to signal publicly that it wants to find a diplomatic resolution to the situation in Iran, with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt saying as much at yesterday’s press briefing. 

But the White House is continuing to move forward with preparations for a military confrontation, which could include anything from targeted strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities to a move toward regime change. Trump met on Wednesday with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to discuss options for Iran.

Rubio is set to travel to Israel on Feb. 28, an announcement that could signal that strikes are not imminent — or that could be a ruse by the administration. 

Recall that in June, Trump gave Iran a two-week deadline to resume talks, choosing to strike the country’s nuclear facilities just three days later.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov — whose country is participating in military exercises with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps today in the Strait of Hormuz — warned against renewed strikes targeting Iran.

Iran is also preparing for a potential military conflict, fortifying its nuclear sites and reviving a chain of command that empowers lower-level military officials.

A month ago, as the world teetered on the edge of another U.S.-Iran military confrontation, diplomacy won out, and the parties agreed to talks. Now, Washington and Tehran — as well as Jerusalem — find themselves again on the brink. The next big decision belongs to Trump.

After a splashy debut at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace will convene for its first meeting on Thursday in Washington. 

The new international body now faces a test of its ability to operationalize its goals: Observers will be watching whether the board makes any significant announcements toward its goal of implementing Phase 2 of Trump’s peace plan, which is focused on rebuilding Gaza and securing the enclave. 

A source familiar with Thursday’s meeting told Jewish Insider that it is “not just pomp and circumstance,” and that they expect discussion about topics including humanitarian aid and the Palestinian technocratic government in Gaza. “It’s not window dressing at all,” the source said of the board’s work. 

Trump has assembled a roster of regional heavy hitters on the Board of Peace, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Turkey, Jordan and Israel. Many European nations, including France, have so far declined the invitation, wary that it intrudes on the United Nations’ authority and that its mandate is not clearly confined to Gaza. 

According to a senior Trump administration official, speakers at the event will include Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Jared Kushner, former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz, White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Nickolay Mladenov, the former U.N. Middle East envoy now serving as the high representative for Gaza on the Board of Peace. Little has been shared publicly about what the format will be. 

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a close ally of Trump, said he plans to attend, as will the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Several countries, including Israel, Egypt and Turkey, are sending senior ministers in place of their heads of state. A European Union commissioner is expected to attend Thursday’s meeting as an observer, alongside observers from some other nations who have not joined the board, including South Korea. 

“President Trump is proud to welcome representatives from over 40 nations to the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace on Thursday for a big announcement on Board of Peace actions to establish an enduring peace in the Middle East,” White House principal deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told Jewish Insider, arguing that the board will be “the most consequential international body in history.”

The gathering of Middle East and global leaders will also come against the backdrop of U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations and speculation that Trump is seriously considering military action against Iran, with the U.S. building up military assets in the region this week. 

Trump announced on Sunday that member countries have pledged $5 billion toward rebuilding the war-torn enclave and will commit thousands of personnel to the International Stabilization Force, which has not yet been launched. He did not detail which member nations were making the pledges for funds or troops, though Indonesia said it was readying up to 8,000 personnel to deploy to Gaza by this summer. The estimated cost to rebuild Gaza is $70 billion. 

The White House said the media had been too skeptical of Trump’s plans but declined to offer specifics about the source of the $5 billion or how the money would be deployed.  

“We’re talking about reconstructing Gaza. I remember when those words came from the president’s lips in the East Room many months ago and all of you in the press were bewildered at how the president could have such an ambitious goal of rebuilding Gaza, which is obviously a place that has been just turmoiled by violence and chaos for many many years,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a Wednesday press briefing. “But we’re well underway in doing that.”

The key question facing the body is whether it can actually make progress toward addressing the most intractable issue in Gaza: Hamas’ continued control over large parts of the Strip and the terror group’s refusal to disarm. 

“What will come out of it besides rhetoric is some financial commitments and troop commitments. But the troop commitments are limited. No one will agree to disarm Hamas,” Elliott Abrams, who served as an Iran envoy in Trump’s first term, told JI. “Reconstruction won’t really begin until Hamas is disarmed and fighting has ended.”

While Trump has repeatedly indicated that disarming Hamas is a top priority, the International Stabilization Force tasked with keeping the peace in Gaza is not expected to take on Hamas militarily. The White House has not laid out a plan for how the ISF will take over control from Hamas, which is thus far unwilling to relinquish governance. It is also not clear how Israel and Hamas will respond to the board’s directives. 

“The three core questions that the board is examining are, who’s going to govern Gaza, who is going to provide security for Gaza and then number three, how is Gaza going to be reconstructed?” said Aaron David Miller, a former State Department negotiator. “The board can’t answer those questions. It can provide the resources that could supplement good answers, but those decisions lie in Jerusalem and in Gaza and on the part of Hamas’ external leadership.”

Josh Gruenbaum’s Thursday started in Davos, Switzerland, at the signing ceremony to inaugurate President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace. Gruenbaum walked onto the World Economic Forum stage where Trump sat, surrounded by world leaders, to hand the president the board’s first resolution — focused on the demilitarization and reconstruction of Gaza — for him to sign.

Hours later, Gruenbaum’s day ended at the Kremlin in Moscow, alongside the two men most closely associated with Trump’s unorthodox brand of foreign policy dealmaking: White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and advisor Jared Kushner.

“This is Josh,” Witkoff told Russian President Vladimir Putin as he shook Gruenbaum’s hand at the start of their meeting, a video feed from the Kremlin showed. The men sat down just before midnight. The overnight meeting lasted four hours, ahead of planned security talks between Russia, the U.S. and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi today. 

Gruenbaum is a relatively new figure on the diplomatic scene. He started working with Witkoff and Kushner soon after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect in October. Since then, he’s been spotted in meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Earlier this month, Gruenbaum was named a diplomatic advisor to the new Board of Peace, which the Trump administration is reportedly envisioning as a replacement to the United Nations. 

It’s a somewhat surprising turn for Gruenbaum, whose expertise is not diplomacy or foreign policy but investment banking. But with his business background, Gruenbaum fits in with Witkoff and Kushner, both of whom come from the real estate world. His rise underscores how the Trump administration is reshaping the machinery of government by elevating loyalists with private-sector backgrounds and expanding their portfolios far beyond traditional lanes. 

Gruenbaum first joined the Trump administration last year as commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service, a little-known agency within the General Services Administration that oversees federal contracting. He told Jewish Insider last March that the role allowed him to take a DOGE-like approach to cost-cutting. It was also a perch that allowed him to be involved with federal antisemitism policy, and he quickly joined the federal antisemitism task force. 

Gruenbaum’s hypothesis was that government contracts are an effective venue for the Trump administration to exert its influence. So if the government has contracts with, say, a university, then the government can apply pressure to ensure that university complies with federal civil rights laws — a strategy that was used frequently last year to target billions of dollars in federal research funding going to universities that the White House alleged were not appropriately committed to fighting antisemitism.  

“I come from a community where Jewish values and the Jewish religion were very important. That is part and parcel to how I was raised and how I think about the world and where I get my moral compass from,” Gruenbaum told JI last year. 

He grew up in an Orthodox Jewish community and studied at a yeshiva, before working in his father’s food importing business and then earning a law degree and MBA from New York University. He most recently worked at the private equity firm KKR before moving to Washington last year.

In his role at FAS — a position he still holds, while also flitting between world capitals — Gruenbaum practiced the Washington maxim of making yourself useful, and making your presence known. He undertook a multibillion dollar review of federal contracts. Last fall, he worked on the Trump administration’s higher education compact, an attempt to get universities to sign onto a White House pact in order to get preferential access to federal funds. (No universities have yet agreed to it.) 

Now he is also a senior advisor to the president. 

Some Republican lawmakers said on Thursday that they’re hesitant about President Donald Trump’s decision to invite Russia and China to be part of the Board of Peace that is set to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza.

The administration formally announced the board’s membership on Thursday, consisting largely of countries from the Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia, with several major European allies declining to participate. China and Russia have also not, to this point, accepted their invitations.

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) told Jewish Insider of Russia and China,“I would not have included either of those countries. I wouldn’t have included Belarus either. Belarus is an illegitimate government. It was installed illegitimately by war criminal [Vladimir] Putin.”

Wilson said he views Russia and China as “part of the axis of evil.” He continued, “The axis of evil is easy: it’s Iran, which finances Hamas, and war criminal Putin and the Chinese Communist Party. I do not see them [Russia and China] as [capable of serving as] independent law enforcement, and so it needs to be looked at, in my view.”

Wilson went on to say that, “We are in a conflict we didn’t choose, and that is of dictatorships with rule of gun invading democracies with rule of law. It began on Feb. 24, 2022, with the invasion of Ukraine, and then Oct. 7, the invasion by — I won’t use the word proxies — Iranian puppets, to invade Israel. It’s very important that we show peace through strength to defend the people of Taiwan.”

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) said of inviting China and Russia to join the board, “I don’t know what that brings.”

“I am concerned that they’re a malign influence no matter what they do. And the Middle East, Russia has always been trying to do more. I think their credibility is largely squandered with their invasion of Ukraine,” he continued.

He said the leaders of both China and Russia should face trial for crimes against humanity.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) said that it made sense to invite the two U.S. adversaries but that they should not have much of a substantive role.

“To exclude them from participation would be inappropriate; to include them in any real positive influence — neither one of them contributes money, neither one of them contributes an expertise in democracy,” Issa said. “I don’t mind them being included, but I think we have to be realistic. They both lack either the generosity or the expertise necessary to create a different world for the Palestinians in their future government.”

He said that other non-democracies, such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, are more valuable partners given their potential willingness to contribute financially to the reconstruction of Gaza.

“And if I want others, I want them because they’re willing to demand that there be real representation and real recognition of the international rules that most of our nations live under, Russia and China not being among them,” Issa continued.

Though originally conceived to address the situation in Gaza, Trump has floated the idea that the Board of Peace will pursue a broader agenda, as a potential alternative or replacement for the United Nations, to address other global conflicts, an issue that has prevented some European allies from joining. 

Republicans indicated that they’re open to that idea, citing the U.N.’s long-standing anti-Israel bias.

“I think the people of Israel would welcome an alternative to the United Nations that represented free people and democracy in a way that the United Nation skirts,” Issa said. “Israel has been the whipping boy and the piñata of the U.N. for a very long time. And so, you know, finding a group of [countries] willing and more independent and more willing to work for the greater good” could have value.

But, he added, countries like Russia and China do not need to be involved “unless they’re going to have an active and positive role,” of which he has seen no indication.

Smith, a longtime critic of anti-Israel bias at the U.N., said the body “has no credibility. The U.N. Human Rights Council doesn’t, the U.N. itself. Just like UNRWA has no credibility, ever, I feel the same way about this.”

“I think our leadership, as a country, hopefully, can make the difference,” he continued.

Wilson said he believes the board’s mission will remain focused on Gaza.

After President Donald Trump wrapped up a signing ceremony inaugurating his new Board of Peace in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, several of the highest-profile attendees of the event hustled to a private lunch where they spoke hopefully about the future of the Abraham Accords.

Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. Princess Reema Bandar Al Saud and Israeli President Isaac Herzog both shared optimistic remarks about the region’s future, according to one guest. Also in the room were Bahraini Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa and Khaldoon Al Mubarak, the CEO and managing director of the Mubadala Investment Company, an Emirati sovereign wealth fund.

Hosted and moderated by new Meta President Dina Powell McCormick and philanthropist David Rubenstein, the event honored Lally Weymouth, a former longtime Washington Post journalist who died in 2025. Her daughter, Katherine Weymouth, and brother, Don Graham, both former publishers of the Post, invited a long list of World Economic Forum dignitaries who had known Weymouth. She was described at the lunch as a “force of nature,” the attendee told Jewish Insider.

Participants also toasted Lutnick’s wife, Allison Lutnick, who was a leading advocate within the Trump administration for the release of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza. 

Other guests included Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, CNN host Fareed Zakaria, Post columnist David Ignatius, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell, Bridgewater CEO Nir Bar Dea, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and Israeli entrepreneur Yossi Vardi.

Hamas must demilitarize before Gaza can undergo redevelopment, President Donald Trump’s informal advisor Jared Kushner said on Thursday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as he presented the administration’s plan to disarm the terrorist group and rebuild Gaza.

Kushner was building off of earlier remarks by President Donald Trump at the founding ceremony for his Board of Peace. “We are committed to Gaza being fully demilitarized, properly governed and properly rebuilt. … We’re going to be very successful in Gaza; it’s going to be a great thing to watch,” Trump said at the ceremony.

Hamas, Trump said, “has to give up their weapons, and if they don’t do that, it’s gonna be the end of them.”

Kushner said that the disarmament of Hamas would be a prerequisite to the reconstruction of the enclave. “Without that we cannot rebuild,” he said. “If Hamas does not demilitarize that will be what holds back Gaza and the people of Gaza from achieving their aspirations.”

Kushner presented the administration’s “demilitarization principles” meant to be implemented in the next 100 days. These include the destruction of “heavy weapons, tunnels, military infrastructure, weapons production facilities and munitions.” 

According to the plan, Gaza will be governed by a single civilian authority, which will first be the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), the committee of Palestinian technocrats announced last week, followed by the Palestinian Authority, if it undergoes reforms. Any personal weapons in Gaza must be authorized by the NCAG, which will have a monopoly on the use of force, integrating and vetting any internal security and police.

“The end state: only NCAG-sanctioned personnel may carry weapons,” the presentation states.

Reconstruction, according to the plan, will only take place in sectors that are fully disarmed, and those who agree to disarm will be given amnesty and reintegration into or safe passage out of Gaza.

The IDF will gradually withdraw from Gaza based on the successful implementation of the plan, until it fully withdraws to the IDF-controlled security perimeter separating Gaza from Israeli civilians.

The other Board of Peace priorities in Gaza over the next 100 days will be delivering humanitarian aid and rehabilitating essential infrastructure, including water, electricity, sewage, hospitals and bakeries, as well as clearing rubble and building improved temporary housing.

Kushner presented the Trump administration’s vision for a redeveloped Gaza with a map that included a port and a tourism zone along the Mediterranean coast, as well as large residential areas and industrial complexes, while retaining the security perimeter. 

Trump spoke in his concluding remarks about the potential of seaside property in Gaza: “This is a great location. See, I’m a real estate person at heart … I said ‘look at this location on the sea, look at this piece of property what it can be … People that are living so poorly can be living so well.’”

The plan includes the construction of a “New Rafah” in the next two to three years, including over 100,000 housing units, and subsequently, a “New Gaza.” Kushner envisioned 100% employment, with 500,000 jobs created and a $10 billion GDP by 2035.

In addition, Kushner projected over $25 billion in investments into the enclave, and said that donor countries will be announced at a separate ceremony in Washington in the coming weeks.

“We’re studying the best practices in the world,” Kushner said. “We want to encourage all the countries to be able to follow these best practices. … If we find what’s working in other countries, we should be copying them.”

Kushner encouraged all countries to put aside their differences to help the plan succeed.

“This deal only happened because … we all worked together to make this happen,” he said. “I see people criticizing Israel, or Israel criticizing Turkey and Qatar. Just calm down and work together for 30 days. … The goal here is peace between Israel and the Palestinian people. Everyone wants to live peacefully, everyone wants to live with dignity. … Let’s focus on the positive story, let’s calm down, turn a new chapter. If we believe peace can be possible, then peace is possible.”

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir voiced objections to Qatar and Turkey’s continued involvement on the Gaza Executive Board overseeing the NCAG.

“Turkey and Qatar remain pro-Hamas states that bolstered the Nazi terrorist organization leading up to October 7 and supported it throughout the war; this will not change in 30 days. Hamas must be utterly destroyed — countries that support it will not do so,” he said in a statement following Kushner’s remarks.

Ali Sha’ath, the head of the NCAG, said in a video address shown at the Davos ceremony that the Rafah border crossing would be opened next week. The Board of Peace’s high representative for Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov, also said in a post on X that “an agreement has been reached regarding the preparation for re-opening of the Rafah crossing. Concurrently, we are working with Israel and the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza to expedite the search for the remaining Israeli hostage.” 

An Israeli official told Jewish Insider that the matter of the Rafah crossing would be discussed at an Israeli Security Cabinet meeting in the coming days, along with the return of the remains of Ran Gvili, the final Israeli hostage in Gaza.

Former Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, a member of the opposition, posted on X that “the Rafah crossing is opening, the government of terrorists in suits” — referring to the NCAG — “is already acting in Gaza, and Israel is acting surprised. There are no surprises here, the Oct. 7 government continues to surrender to the Palestinians.”

President Donald Trump hosted a signing ceremony on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday for the founding members of the Board of Peace, his newly formed organization dedicated to world peace and security.

“We’re going to have peace in the world, and boy, wouldn’t that be a great legacy for all of us,” Trump said in his speech launching the board.

The Board of Peace’s “inaugural resolution,” which Trump signed at the ceremony, is to oversee the demilitarization and reconstruction of Gaza.

On Iran, Trump said that the U.S. bombing in June was because “they were two months from having a nuclear weapon, and we can’t let them have that. Iran does want to talk, and we’ll talk.”  

In addition to the U.S., 19 countries attended the “massive event,” as a Trump administration source characterized it to Jewish Insider: Bahrain, Morocco, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Mongolia.

Members of Trump’s team in Davos — Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, informal advisor Jared Kushner and Josh Gruenbaum, a diplomatic advisor to the board — spent the hours preceding the event working to bring more countries on board.

Some 35 of the 50 invited countries agreed to join the Board of Peace, Reuters reported. Those who did not attend the signing ceremony include Egypt, Vietnam and Belarus and Israel. Israeli President Isaac Herzog was in Davos on Thursday but did not attend because the Board of Peace is under Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remit.

Most Western European countries declined to join the Board of Peace because of its apparent aim to replace the United Nations, as well as Trump’s pressure to turn Greenland over to the U.S. and Russia’s invitation to join.

“Just about every country wants to be a part of” the Board of Peace, Trump said. “We’ll work with many others, including the U.N. … This board has a chance to be one of the most consequential bodies ever created, and it’s my honor to serve as its chairman. … I take it very seriously.”

Though Trump first raised the idea of a Board of Peace as a supervisory body for the Gaza ceasefire reached last year, its charter describes a body concerned with peace worldwide and does not mention Gaza or Israel. 

The charter says that the Board of Peace aims to “promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict.” 

It also makes clear that the board’s expansive mission was borne of disappointment with past efforts by the U.N., with its preamble “declaring that durable peace requires pragmatic judgment, common-sense solutions, and the courage to depart from approaches and institutions that have too often failed … Emphasizing the need for a more nimble and effective international peace-building body.” 

Trump said in his remarks on Thursday that “the U.N. has got tremendous potential, and it has not used it,” following a comment earlier this week that the Board of Peace “might” replace the U.N. U.S. diplomats were instructed to say that the Board of Peace is meant to complement the U.N., not replace it, Bloomberg reported. 

Trump will be the board’s inaugural chairman, a position that does not have an end date and carries executive power, including to invite and remove members, veto decisions, set the agenda and choose a successor. Membership is free for a three-year term, while permanent membership costs $1 billion.

Italy has yet to join the Board of Peace specifically because it may violate its constitution to join a body led by a single foreign leader, in which it does not have equal standing with other countries.

Rubio, Witkoff, Kushner and former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair sit on the Board of Peace’s founding Executive Board, and Gruenbaum and Aryeh Lightstone are its diplomatic advisors.

Trump also said in his remarks that Hamas “has to give up their weapons and if they don’t do that, it’s gonna be the end of them. Many countries say we really want to do it.”

The U.S. is “committed to Gaza being fully demilitarized, properly governed and properly rebuilt,” he added. “We’re going to be very successful in Gaza; it’s going to be a great thing to watch.”

When President Donald Trump first raised the idea of establishing a Board of Peace in October, it was as part of his 20-step ceasefire plan for Gaza. The board was meant to oversee a committee of Palestinian technocrats — whose composition was announced last week — and “set the framework and handle the funding for the redevelopment of Gaza … [and] call on best international standards to create modern and efficient governance that serves the people of Gaza and is conducive to attracting investment.” 

The following month, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution supporting the ceasefire plan and “welcom[ing] the establishment of the Board of Peace,” authorizing it to operate in Gaza until the end of 2027. 

But the board’s charter describes a body concerned with peace worldwide, not with removing Hamas’ terror threat in Gaza, and in fact, it does not mention Hamas, Gaza or Israel at all. Its expansive, stated role is to “promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict.” 

Indeed, it appears to be an attempt to compete with the United Nations. Its preamble says: “Declaring that durable peace requires pragmatic judgment, common-sense solutions, and the courage to depart from approaches and institutions that have too often failed … Emphasizing the need for a more nimble and effective international peace-building body.” Asked at a press conference on Wednesday if he intends for the body to replace the U.N., Trump said it “might.” “I wish the United Nations could do more. I wish we didn’t need a Board of Peace,” he said. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also acknowledged, in a speech to the Knesset on Monday, that the Board of Peace is meant to serve as a kind of alternative U.N. — something that Israel is unlikely to have a problem with, considering the deep anti-Israel bias in Turtle Bay, Geneva and beyond — and he announced on Wednesday that Israel would be joining.

The problem for Israel is that the Board of Peace’s mission creep could distract from what is, for Israel, the most important part of the ceasefire plan, which is to dismantle Hamas as a governing and fighting force.

As Netanyahu put it in the Knesset this week: “In Gaza, we are before Stage 2 of the Trump plan. Stage 2 says one simple thing: Hamas will disarm and Gaza will be demilitarized. We are sticking to these goals and they will be achieved, either the easy way or the hard way.”

In the lengthy announcement about the various committees and boards involved in Gaza reconstruction and its oversight, the White House did not even mention Hamas, let alone demilitarization.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s prime minister and foreign affairs minister, said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s proposed Board of Peace represents the only viable path forward for Gaza, confirming that Doha has been invited to join the initiative.

“Yes, we were invited to the board,” Al Thani said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “We are happy to be a contributor to peace and stability in our region. There are a lot of challenges in the implementation, but we have no alternative paths to seek right now.”

Al Thani emphasized that any participating countries would need to “work hard” to ensure the board functions effectively and serves as a stabilizing force.

“President Trump has proposed this path to move forward. We have a lot of work to be done,” said Al Thani. “I think that the most important thing right now is to ensure that Gaza is stabilized and we ensure that the withdrawal of the Israeli forces happens as soon as possible, and ensure that the people can get their life back as soon as possible. That should be the key focus for the Board of Peace.”

Trump has invited a range of countries to join the board, including the U.K., Canada, France and Jordan, as well as China and Russia. As of Wednesday, confirmed participants included Israel, Kosovo, Azerbaijan, Argentina, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Belarus, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

Under Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan, the board was initially created to oversee post-Hamas governance in Gaza and supervise a committee of Palestinian technocrats. However, the group’s new charter does not mention Gaza or the United Nations. Critics have argued that the board’s expanded mandate, along with Trump’s ramped up criticism of the U.N., are signs the group could evolve into a larger international authority intended to rival or sideline existing institutions.

Asked at a press conference on Wednesday if he intends for the body to replace the U.N., Trump said it “might.” “Wish the United Nations could do more, wish we didn’t need a Board of Peace,” he said. 

Al Thani also addressed rising tensions with Iran, urging regional leaders to remain “cool-headed” and “resort to wisdom” amid the unrest inside the country in recent weeks. Earlier this month, Israel and regional partners watched closely as the Trump administration weighed — and ultimately held off on — military strikes in response to Tehran’s crackdown on protesters, which Trump had described as a red line.

While the president has not specified what steps the U.S. may take next, reports have indicated that Israel and Arab states, including Qatar, conveyed concerns about military action. Asked whether Doha had clashed with Washington over the issue, Al Thani suggested otherwise.

“We didn’t argue with the Americans,” he said. “What we offer, as a partner and as an ally of the United States, is honest advice that the best way forward is to find a diplomatic solution.”

Al Thani said Qatar and the U.S. remain in “continuous dialogue,” but reiterated Doha’s opposition to military escalation, even as a means of addressing Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

“We don’t want to see military escalation in our region,” said Al Thani. “We always believe that there is a room for diplomacy, and that’s been our approach in the State of Qatar, and we will always keep advocating for peaceful resolution. We need to understand that any escalation will have consequences.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes the composition of the executive board meant to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza, his office said on Saturday.

“The announcement regarding the composition of the Gaza Executive Board, which is subordinate to the Board of Peace, was not coordinated with Israel and runs contrary to its policy,” the Prime Minister’s Office stated. “The Prime Minister has instructed the Foreign Affairs Minister to contact the U.S. Secretary of State on this matter.”

Netanyahu emphasized his objection in a speech to the Knesset on Monday, saying that “there will be no Turkish or Qatari soldiers in Gaza. We are currently in a dispute with the U.S. over the makeup of the advisory council for Gaza.”

Though Netanyahu said the board was not coordinated with Israel, he spoke with President Donald Trump twice in recent days, and Mossad Chief David Barnea met with White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff on Friday. The calls and meetings were reportedly about Iran.

The White House announced on Friday that several committees to govern Gaza and oversee its reconstruction and administration had been formed, including the Gaza Executive Board.

The Gaza Executive Board is meant to support the office of the high representative for Gaza and the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, which is made up of Palestinian technocrats. It includes Witkoff, Jared Kushner, former U.K. Prime Minister U.K. Tony Blair, Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan, Israeli-Cypriot businessman Yakir Gabay, head of Egyptian intelligence General Hassan Rashad, UAE Minister for International Cooperation Reem Al-Hashimy, U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Sigrid Kaag, and the previous holder of that position, Nickolay Mladenov, who will serve as the high representative for Gaza.

The board also includes Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Qatari diplomat Ali Al-Thawadi. Israeli officials have previously spoken out against Turkish involvement in Gaza’s reconstruction. Qatar has funded Gaza reconstruction in the past, with significant funding and dual-use materials reaching Hamas; the terrorist group’s leaders have also resided in Doha.

A Trump administration source characterized Netanyahu’s statement to Jewish Insider as a minor issue that would likely be smoothed out within days. 

The source noted that Turkish and Qatari representatives were key to negotiating the ceasefire in Gaza, which took effect in October, and that they call Witkoff and Kushner daily, and therefore have an influence on the process regardless of the titles they are given. He also added that Netanyahu has a direct line to Trump.

“It’s all based on whether Hamas demilitarizes or not,” he added. “If Hamas demilitarizes, that is what’s most important [above the composition of the board]. If Hamas doesn’t demilitarize, none of this matters. … The prime minister has a commitment from the president that Hamas will demilitarize.”

Israeli Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said that “Netanyahu is allowing Turkey and Qatar into Gaza. That endangers Israel’s security. That is not what our brave soldiers fought for for two years.

“Instead of releasing panicky statements of protest, Israel should offer a clear alternative, for Egypt to administer Gaza for the next 15 years, for Hamas to be disarmed, and work with American partners to strengthen Israel’s border,” Lapid added.

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said that he supports Netanyahu’s “important message.”

“Gaza does not need an ‘executive board’ that will supervise its ‘rehabilitation,’ it needs to be cleaned of Hamas terrorists who should be destroyed, along with encouraging massive voluntary emigration, in accordance with President Trump’s original plan,” Ben-Gvir said. “I call on the prime minister to instruct the IDF to prepare to go back to war in Gaza using great force in order to achieve the central goal of the war, the destruction of Hamas.”

The White House also announced the members of the founding executive board of the Trump-chaired Board of Peace, whose purview is not limited to Gaza. Netanyahu told the Knesset on Monday that the board is meant to serve as an alternative to the United Nations, 66 of whose organizations the U.S. left earlier this month. The board is composed of Secretary of State Marc Rubio, Witkoff, Kushner, Blair, Rowan, World Bank President Ajay Banga and Deputy National Security Advisor Robert Gabriel. 

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Argentinian President Javier Milei also accepted invitations from Trump to join the board, while Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had yet to respond. French President Emmanuel Macron declined to join. Netanyahu was invited to join or send an Israeli representative, according to Ynet. Russian President Vladimir Putin was invited, as was President Alyaksandr Lukashenka of Belarus; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky received an invitation on Tuesday, Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Kornichuk told JI. China, Germany, Australia, Albania, Jordan, Egypt and Bahrain reportedly received invitations, as well. 

Membership on the Board of Peace is for three years; Trump asked countries to pay $1 billion for a permanent seat, Bloomberg reported.

Trump appointed Aryeh Lightstone and Josh Gruenbaum, members of Witkoff’s team, to be special advisors to the Board of Peace, “leading day-to-day strategy and operations, and translating the Board’s mandate and diplomatic priorities into disciplined execution,” the White House stated.

It has been nearly three months since President Donald Trump unveiled his 20-point peace proposal for Gaza, but officials have yet to explain how key aspects would function in practice or how Hamas’ entrenched presence in the enclave will be addressed. 

Under the plan, Gaza’s governance would be overseen by a Trump-led “Board of Peace,” followed by an international executive board expected to include Jared Kushner and White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. Beneath the board would sit a technocratic Palestinian government of approximately a dozen Palestinians who are not affiliated with Hamas. 

Trump initially planned to announce board members by Christmas, but that timeline has slipped to early next year. On Thursday, the White House proposed that Nickolay Mladenov, a Bulgarian diplomat and former UN Middle East envoy, join the Trump-led board as an on-the-ground representative in Gaza. In such a role, Mladenov would be expected to work with a future Palestinian technocratic government.  

But as Trump focuses on hand-picking members for his ideal Palestinian governing body, experts told Jewish Insider that the administration has offered little clarity on how this layered structure would actually govern Gaza — or, more consequentially, how it can operate while armed Hamas terrorists remain in control of much of the enclave. 

“It just hasn’t been made clear on the issue of governance or security how this stuff is actually going to work, or how Hamas is going to be persuaded to step aside,” said Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “Is [the Board of Peace] the overriding executive authority that has the final say in Palestinian governance and security? If that’s the case, it’s going to fail because none of these members of the Board of Peace have the time or inclination to make those decisions.” 

Israel currently controls 53% of Gaza, as demarcated by the “Yellow Line,” while Hamas maintains control in the remaining western part of the enclave. Despite heavy losses, Hamas fighters continue to operate and have given no indication of relinquishing power. Miller called the task of ensuring Hamas is “stripped of its weapons” an “extremely difficult” objective.

“There is no indication that Hamas is ready to meet its commitments to disarm,” said Dana Stroul, research director at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “If anything, [Hamas’] surviving leaders are deliberately muddying the messaging to make their terrorist organization appear reasonable and a legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.”

To prevent a Hamas resurgence, Trump has made the deployment of an International Stabilization Force (ISF) a central pillar of the plan. But the administration has yet to define the composition of the force. Israel has objected to Turkish participation, and while countries such as Azerbaijan and Indonesia have been floated as part of the force, it lacks definitive commitments. 

Elliott Abrams, who served as Iran envoy during Trump’s first term, told JI that the White House has yet to “seriously address the question of who would maintain security in Gaza and prevent a Hamas recovery.”

“To answer that question you have to answer, ‘Who is willing to shoot at Hamas terrorists?’” said Abrams. “The ISF proposal was unrealistic in that it never even asked this, much less answered it. The idea that Muslim or European or U.N. forces would shoot [at Hamas] was never realistic.” 

Miller echoed that concern and questioned how an international force would respond in the event Hamas fighters “emerge from tunnels crossing the line of control.”

“Would forces from Arab and Muslim countries fire on Palestinians? Will they be able to maintain their legitimacy if the Israelis are unhappy or dissatisfied with the response of this force and choose to undertake a response of their own?” said Miller. “That’s an extraordinarily challenging set of problems that need to be unpacked.”

The Trump administration indicated on Thursday that it is planning to appoint a two-star American general to command the stabilization force. But experts said the administration should first lay out a concrete plan of what it expects from ISF participants. 

“Who heads [the stabilization force] is much less important, frankly, then what it’s going to do,” said Miller. “It doesn’t matter who sits on top of the organization or the construct if it’s feckless, weak and riddled with contradictions and dysfunction.” 

Stroul agreed, adding that without “clarity on the missions and activities” of the ISF, the force will “encounter challenges.”

“Without a clear plan of responsibility for security on the ground, it is difficult to imagine international organizations and funding coming into Gaza to start the work of rubble clearing and reconstruction,” said Stroul.