Trump’s Board of Peace met. But can it follow through?
The improvised international coalition puts pressure on Bibi with a pathway toward Palestinian statehood — provided its attention span survives big challenges
President Donald Trump (R) and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff on Feb. 19. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
By Jacob Kornbluh February 19, 2026
When Donald Trump won the 2024 election, promising to bring peace to the Middle East, the open question was whether he would deliver a credible plan to end the war in Gaza and revive the momentum of the Abraham Accords or stage another round of deal-making theater. This week’s “Board of Peace” rollout suggests an effort that reaches beyond short-term optics.
But the central question remains following the first meeting of his ad hoc Board of Peace Thursday in Washington: Is this a durable strategy?
Under Trump’s security-first framework, if Hamas agrees to disarm and give up control, Gaza would be rebuilt under international oversight. Spearheaded by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, it includes pledges from nine countries of more than $7 billion for relief and infrastructure, overseen by a technocratic committee and backed by an international stabilization force tasked with restoring security. The U.S. pledged an additional $10 billion.
On paper, the plan amounts to a phased pathway toward the creation of a Palestinian state — Gaza first, with the model potentially extending to the West Bank if successful.
Advancing that, however, could prove politically fraught for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is running for reelection. For years, Netanyahu has argued there is no Palestinian partner for peace. If Netanyahu rejects the plan outright, he risks a visible clash with Trump that would carry diplomatic and political costs. If he embraces it, his rivals on the right will accuse him of opening the door to Palestinian statehood.
Public skepticism is also deep. Israeli support for a Palestinian state has sharply declined after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, and Palestinians have been generally skeptical about the possibility of a breakthrough under Trump. A Gallup poll released last year found that only one in five Israelis and Palestinians believe lasting peace is possible. When he accepted the terms of the 21-point Gaza ceasefire proposal, Netanyahu said he was backing it as a security arrangement, not a final-status deal.
Netanyahu’s absence from the Board of Peace event on Thursday was noticeable. (Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar attended, but did not speak.) So was Trump’s praise of Qatar as an ally that does “so much good,” and his public confidence that Hamas will “give up their weapons.”
Will Trump move forward?
Trump has been eager to cast himself as the indispensable dealmaker since returning to office last year. “My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier,” Trump said at his inauguration. And he has shown before that he is willing to push Netanyahu when he wants a deal. Trump did it in his first term on annexation and the Abraham Accords. He did it again on the ceasefire deal in October.
The expectations, however, could be unrealistic. The political interests of key players like Hamas and the Netanyahu government will stall any progress. According to a report by the BBC, Hamas has extended its control over security, tax revenue and government services.
Ali Shaath, head of the Palestinian technocratic committee tasked with taking over governance of the enclave, told the Board of Peace that strict discipline will be needed to implement the plan, under what he described as “extremely difficult conditions.”
Even if the disarmament and governance reform in Gaza work, there is no indication that it could move further than a viable ceasefire on the Israel-Gaza border. The Trump administration has paid less attention to the West Bank and the Palestinian Authority, other than drawing a red line on annexation by Israel.
Trump also lacks a long-term vision and focus, said Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former peace negotiator, calling the president a transactional figure, not a strategist. “He has big ideas, but he doesn’t get immersed in the details,” Miller said. “He’s looking for quick and easy wins.”
Will the Democrats support?
The Gaza plan also puts mainstream Democrats at a political bind, as the midterm elections shape up to be defined in part by criticism of Israel and an emphasis on Palestinian rights and safety.
Many Democrats praised the Abraham Accords as a pragmatic path, even if it didn’t directly resolve the Palestinian question, because it advanced regional peace.
Rep. Dan Goldman, a Democrat from New York who is facing a tough primary, said in an interview with the New York Editorial Board Thursday that the way the Board of Peace is constructed is “problematic.” He noted the exclusion of most European allies as a “grave mistake” that could prevent progress.
Trump “needs to stop focusing on how much money the members of the Board of Peace are putting in and focus on putting together a strong coalition that can provide the political, governing and security support so that there can be a state in Gaza,” Goldman said.
