Sir Tony Blair has welcomed as “bold and intelligent” Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza, under which the former British prime minister would serve on an international supervisory “Board of Peace”.
Blair indicated he would be happy to serve under Trump, who would chair the proposed board.
But there was disbelief among some members of Blair’s Labour party, who have not forgiven the ex-premier for his staunch support for the US-led 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Under Trump’s peace plan, the “Board of Peace” would provide oversight of a Palestinian committee that would administer Gaza once a ceasefire took hold between Israel and Hamas. Blair and other international figures would be appointed to the board.
Blair said: “President Trump has put down a bold and intelligent plan which, if agreed, can end the war, bring immediate relief to Gaza [and] the chance of a brighter and better future for its people, while ensuring Israel’s absolute and enduring security and the release of all hostages.
“It offers us the best chance of ending two years of war, misery and suffering and I thank President Trump for his leadership, determination and commitment.”
Blair’s allies said the former prime minister would be prepared to work with Trump on the international board, saying the US president’s close involvement was “a very strong and vital signal”.
Blair, who served as a Middle East envoy after leaving Downing Street, has been working on Gaza plans for more than a year in an individual capacity, using his Tony Blair Institute to formulate his ideas.
A central theme of his proposals included an international trusteeship for the besieged Palestinian enclave.
He co-ordinated with Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, according to diplomats, who referred to the proposals as the “Kushner-Blair” plan. The pair were at the White House in August for a meeting with Trump and his senior officials about Gaza.
But European and Arab officials worried that Blair’s plans focused too heavily on Israel’s concerns, would marginalise the Palestinians and lack legitimacy. They even seemed to be at odds with UK Foreign Office proposals that were being co-ordinated with France.
In the end, Trump’s proposals include a mix of various plans, with the US president calling for a Palestinian technocratic committee to govern the strip, as Arab and European states envisaged, while the international board would provide oversight.
The Trump plan was backed by Sir Keir Starmer, UK prime minister, who said: “We strongly support his efforts to end the fighting, release the hostages and ensure the provision of urgent humanitarian assistance for the people of Gaza.”
But the idea of Blair acting alongside Trump in a peacemaking role in the Middle East surprised some in the Labour party, whose MPs and activists are meeting in Liverpool for their annual conference.
One UK minister said: “It’s like a mini-series where the scriptwriters have lost the plot. It has jumped the shark and should be taken off air.”
Some backbench MPs were incredulous at Blair’s proposed role, since his legacy as Labour’s longest-serving prime minister is tarnished in many party members’ eyes by Britain’s role in Iraq.
“I personally think it’s a terrible idea and I think many of my colleagues who like me care deeply about Palestine will also think it’s a terrible idea,” said one backbench MP who has long campaigned for Palestine.
In the Arab world, where Blair is best known for his role in the Iraq invasion, his potential involvement in Gaza’s future was greeted with incredulity. Across social media platforms popular in the region, Blair was condemned as an unapologetic war criminal.
Nabeel Rajab, a prominent Bahraini human rights activist, said on X that “a partner in the crime of Iraq has no place in governing Gaza”.
Iraqis were particularly incensed. “After everything he’s done, all the death and destruction this guy was responsible for, the blood on his hands — he’s now going to come in and save the Palestinians? This is a disgusting parody,” said Amjad Salehi, a Palestinian Iraqi living in Baghdad.
“He needs to go away and leave us alone. We don’t want him here, he is not good for the Arabs.”
Back in the UK, however, some Labour MPs were less concerned.
Dame Emily Thornberry, chair of the House of Commons foreign affairs committee, who has pushed for years for Labour to recognise a Palestinian state, said she would support any plan that advanced the possibility of a two-nation solution even if there was unease about Blair’s involvement within Labour.
Thornberry said: “If we get Trump, the Palestinians and the Israelis to agree on this and the plan includes a path to a Palestinian state, then I am intensely relaxed about it.”
Sir Jeremy Hunt, a former Conservative chancellor, told ITV: “I think Tony Blair could make a very good contribution.” He noted that Blair had played a key role in bringing peace to Northern Ireland.
Blair has strong relations with some Arab states, particularly the United Arab Emirates, where his advisory group, which closed almost a decade ago, counted Mubadala, one of Abu Dhabi’s most active sovereign investment funds, as a client.
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