Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing criticism at home after the US announced the composition of the executive board that will oversee Gaza’s reconstruction.
Critics say this will give countries hostile to Israel a foothold in the Strip and Mr Netanyahu’s office responded to the announcement with rare public criticism of the US, saying the White House’s list “was not co-ordinated with Israel and runs contrary to its policy”.
Anger among the Israelis is mostly directed at the inclusion of senior officials from Turkey and Qatar, countries they consider supportive of Hamas and therefore a threat to national security.
Opposition leader and former prime minister Yair Lapid blamed Mr Netanyahu for “allowing Turkey and Qatar to enter Gaza; the ideological partners of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood will run the strip”.
“That’s not what our heroic fighters have been fighting for over the past two years,” he said.
Naftali Bennett, another former prime minister, said the inclusion of Turkey and Qatar “is a reward to Hamas for the October 7 massacre and a danger to Israel’s security”.
“This [Netanyahu] government of chaos has abdicated Israel’s sovereignty,” he added.
The executive board will be more closely involved in the management and rebuilding of the strip than the higher board of peace, which comprises world leaders, including Mr Trump. The executive board also features British, Egyptian and Emirati officials, businesspeople and US officials close to Mr Trump. A former UN official, Nickolay Mladenov, will effectively lead the body.
Anger over the board’s composition stems not only from fears that hostile states will have influence in territory on Israel’s border, but also that Mr Netanyahu is mismanaging relations with the US, by far the country’s most important ally.
US news outlet Axios quoted a senior US official criticising Mr Netanyahu’s opposition. “This is our show, not his show. We managed to do things in Gaza in recent months nobody thought was possible and we are going to continue moving,” the official said. The report also said Mr Trump’s announcement had “stunned” the prime minister.
“If he wants us to deal with Gaza, it will have to be our way. We worked over him. Let him focus on Iran and let us deal with Gaza,” the official added.
The row comes as Israel’s cabinet meets to discuss the widespread protests in Iran and the possibility of US military action in the country, which Mr Trump has threatened to launch if protesters continue to be harmed.
Israel launched strikes on military and nuclear targets in Iran during a 12-day war in June last year, with the US bombing Iranian atomic facilities a day before the conflict ended with a ceasefire.
