I thank President Trump for his leadership in establishing the Board of Peace and am honoured to be appointed to its Executive Board. It’s been a real privilege to work with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and their outstanding team. I look forward to working with them and other colleagues in line with the President’s vision to promote peace and prosperity. I also warmly welcome the appointment of Nickolay Mladenov, as High Representative, someone with whom I’ve worked before and for whom I have great respect.
For Gaza, the President’s 20-point plan to end the war was an extraordinary achievement. It was something many thought could not happen. The war did end and the hostages (bar one, Rani Gvili whose release will continue to be a priority) released. I want to thank all the parties involved and particularly the mediators.
The passing of the UN resolution endorsing that plan was also a diplomatic triumph. But we know the implementation of the plan will take enormous commitment and hard work. The appointment this week of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza is a massive step forward. It gives hope to people in Gaza that they can have a future different from the past and to the Israelis that they may have a neighbour which does not threaten its security. For Gaza and its people, we want a Gaza which does not reconstruct Gaza as it was but as it could and should be. And for the Israelis we want to ensure that the horrific events of October 7 2023 are never repeated. Both myself personally and my Institute will continue to work and commit for this outcome and again I thank President Trump for his leadership which made this possible.