Netanyahu in 'Board of Peace' is mockery of justice say Gaza's Palestinians

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's reported acceptance of US President Donald Trump's invitation to join the so-called "Board of Peace" has sparked outrage and disbelief among Palestinians in Gaza.

Gaza's residents are still suffering from the genocidal war by Israel, and see this latest diplomatic move as a part of the global community's deliberate disregard for Palestinian rights while providing impunity to Israeli leaders.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on 21 November 2024, following investigations into war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the use of starvation as a weapon, targeted killings, persecution, and acts deemed inhumane toward civilians. 

Netanyahu became the first sitting head of government of a state considered a key "Western" ally to be formally charged by the ICC, making him theoretically subject to arrest in any of the 125 member states that adhere to the Rome Statute.

Nevertheless, Trump extended the invitation, which Netanyahu accepted without hesitation. His office issued a brief statement confirming his participation in the "Board of Peace," a body initially framed as a mechanism for overseeing Gaza's reconstruction but later, according to Trump's draft charter, expanded to address armed conflicts worldwide. 

Politics over justice

Palestinian political analysts are unanimously concerned by the broader implications of Netanyahu's participation. 

Adel Yassin, a Gaza-based expert on Israeli affairs, stressed that the move is deeply intertwined with the current trajectory of Israeli politics. 

"A just peace requires concrete steps toward establishing a Palestinian state," Yassin remarked to The New Arab. "Without this, international stability remains a theoretical concept. Under a far-right government led by Netanyahu, this scenario has become virtually impossible."

Yassin further speculated that Netanyahu is unlikely to endorse any resolutions that would advance Palestinian statehood. 

"The facts on the ground speak for themselves," he said. "His government continues to impose what it calls 'sovereignty' over West Bank areas and Jerusalem, systematically eliminating any prospects for a Palestinian state. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich openly supports this agenda. In this context, Netanyahu's role in the 'Board of Peace' becomes a major obstacle to justice, because accepting a Palestinian state would amount to political suicide in his own right-wing base."

Ahed Ferwana, a political analyst based in Gaza, argued that Netanyahu's inclusion demonstrates the Board's reliance on power rather than law or morality. 

"This is a body where war criminals can sit alongside world leaders without accountability," he remarked. 

Ferwana sees two goals for Trump: to improve Netanyahu's domestic image amid corruption trials and to challenge the ICC's legitimacy. 

"The 'Board of Peace' is less about achieving justice or peace than it is about protecting Israel’s leadership from scrutiny," he said.

Mustafa Ibrahim, a writer and political analyst from Gaza, offered a broader perspective on the implications for the international system. 

"Inviting Netanyahu is part of a deliberate effort by Trump to reshape global order," he said. "Israel, despite decades of documented crimes, is placed at the centre of a new system, while Palestinian leaders and victims are excluded. This also represents a direct attack on the ICC, as the US has sanctioned judges involved in the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant."

He further warned that the decision signals a dangerous trend toward redefining legitimacy in terms of power rather than law or morality. 

"Europe bears part of the responsibility," he said. "It has historically supported Israel and now finds itself navigating the consequences of Trump's approach, where sanctions and economic threats are used to enforce political objectives. Allowing an accused war criminal to lead a peace initiative while excluding Palestinians is a profound violation of ethical and political norms."

He argued that Trump's initiative seeks to create an alternative to the United Nations, establishing a new international model governed by American priorities rather than legal or humanitarian standards. "This is a cowboy theory of diplomacy," he said, "where might makes right, and victims are sidelined."

International and humanitarian implications

The absence of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from the "Board of Peace" is another point of contention. 

Analysts view it as a deliberate signal that the body prioritises Israeli and US agendas over the inclusion of Palestinian perspectives. 

Ibrahim described this exclusion as both symbolic and strategic, saying, "The victim is erased from the process, while the perpetrator is celebrated. This is a dangerous precedent that threatens to redefine how justice and peace are perceived internationally."

For many, the announcement crystallises a stark reality: peace and justice in the Palestinian context are increasingly conditional on global power dynamics rather than adherence to international law. 

The ongoing expansion of Israeli settlements and daily Israeli military incursions in the occupied West Bank, they argue, are part of a coordinated strategy that will continue unchecked as long as the international system tolerates these contradictions.

"Peace cannot exist when those responsible for the bloodshed are rewarded," Hussam al-Dajani, a Gaza-based political analyst, told TNA, saying, "Justice cannot exist when our children's deaths are ignored. This is theatre, not a solution."

Voices from Gaza: Frustration and anger

"If this is a 'Board of Peace', what is left for war? The criminal man who killed our people, besieged us and starved our children becomes a member of the 'Board of Peace', while we are still searching for water and food. This means our blood has no value, and justice is just a word used when it suits the powerful," Abu Ahmed, a displaced resident from northern Gaza living in a tent near Gaza City, told TNA.

The 45-year-old father of five described the scene around his tent in northern Gaza: "Every day we search for clean water and food. The 'Board of Peace' talks about peace, but we still live in war. They invite the man who destroyed our homes, and for what? To sign a paper?" 

Umm Mohammed, a mother who lost two sons during the war, echoed this sentiment. "The world doesn't want to hold Israel accountable. It wants to close the file and present Netanyahu as a 'peacemaker', while we carry the pictures of our martyred sons," she told TNA. 

These frustrations capture a broader sentiment across the coastal enclaves against a form of international diplomacy that reserves justice for the powerful and leaves the victimised invisible.