Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has become a key figure in President Donald Trump's efforts to end the war in Gaza between Israel and the Hamas terrorists.
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that under Trump's plan being proposed to Arab and Israeli leaders, 72-year-old Blair would serve as interim administrator of Gaza, overseeing a body known as the Gaza International Transitional Authority.
That possibility has created anxiety among many Palestinians who remember Blair's role in the Iraq War and as being pro-Israel over the years, The Washington Post reported Monday.
Blair has suggested a two-state solution in the past, though unlike current Prime Minister Keir Starmer, he did not formally recognize the Palestinian territories as a sovereign state.
Blair's blueprint for peace is reflected in the Trump administration's 21-point Gaza peace plan, a copy of which was obtained by the Post.
Under Blair's blueprint, GITA would be composed of international experts, U.N. officials, and Palestinian and Arab representatives. The authority would oversee an executive group of Palestinian administrators and technocrats responsible for day-to-day operations in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived at the White House on Monday to discuss the plan with Trump.
Besides being British prime minister from 1997-2007, Blair has been involved in the Middle East as a U.N. envoy, a private consultant and a shadow mediator.
"He has always had a corner of his heart devoted to the unfinished project of calming down this conflict," former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak told the Post on Saturday. "It's like he never left."
Israelis' respect for Blair could help persuade Netanyahu to consider Palestinian involvement in administering Gaza.
"The Israelis cannot easily swallow that idea that the Palestinian Authority will have any part at all," Barak said. "That could be modified somewhat by having someone like Blair in the middle. They respect him."
Blair has been known as someone who tries to resolve conflicts, as he contributed to the 1998 Good Friday Agreements that ended sectarian violence in Northern Ireland and his rallying of NATO allies for a military intervention in Kosovo in 1999.
"There is a strong strand to his personality, this kind of huge confidence that he can solve the most difficult problems in the world," British journalist and Blair biographer John Rentoul said. "He will talk to anybody. One of his strengths is that he is pretty unsentimental about working with people that his liberal friends hate, like Trump and Netanyahu."
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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