Donald Trump has told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to move forward with implementing a Gaza peace plan first proclaimed by the US president in October 2025 during a phone conversation on Thursday, two anonymous sources have told Axios.
Efforts to implement Trump’s plan stalled in recent months in the lead-up to Israel’s 27 October election, which has left Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, who is now wanted by the ICC for war crimes, clinging to power.
Now that the election is over, Trump wants to push ahead with the plan and expects Netanyahu to drop his attempts to obstruct it, according to Axios.
One US official said that Netanyahu’s refusal to cooperate had left Trump’s Board of Peace working ” with one hand tied behind our back”.
“We want to move forward collaboratively and we need full cooperation and partnership from the Israeli government,” they said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were also on the phone call with Netanyahu.
Tony Blair, who occupies a senior position on the Board of Peace, visited Israel a day after the call, meeting with Netanyahu and opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot, who has been tasked with forming a government following last month’s election.
The former British prime minister also urged Netanyahu to cooperate with the Board’s plan, one source told Axios.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were also on the phone call with Netanyahu.
Tony Blair, who occupies a senior position on the Board of Peace, visited Israel a day after the call, meeting with Netanyahu and opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot, who has been tasked with forming a government following last month’s election.
The former British prime minister also urged Netanyahu to cooperate with the Board’s plan, one source told Axios.
Hamas has agreed to step down from power and hand over its weapons as part of a final peace deal with Israel.
It reached an agreement with the Board of Peace in July on a 15-point plan aimed at demilitarising the strip and establishing a new Palestinian-led authority.
But it says it will only begin implementing the plan after Israel respects the ceasefire and fully withdraws its forces, which still occupy around two-thirds of the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu’s far-right government has refused to cooperate with the board, largely ignoring the terms of the ceasefire and preventing members of the technocratic authority set up to run Gaza from entering the territory.
Israel has never fully implemented the truce, continuing to stop essential goods from entering Gaza and attacking the territory on a near-daily basis. More than 1,600 people have been killed and 5,833 others wounded in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire was supposed to have come into force on 10 October 2025.
Meanwhile, far-right Israeli ministers have continued to push for the reestablishment of Jewish settlements in Gaza and the expulsion of the Palestinian population.
Trump’s Board of Peace outlined a $2.45 billion initial reconstruction plan during the UN General Assembly in September.
The six-month plan involves temporary housing, hospital repairs, and rubble clearance, as well as the deployment of the proposed multinational force to oversee security in the territory.
But the Board has also said it would not begin implementing the plan until Hamas is fully disarmed.
TRUMP BLAMES ISRAEL FOR MIDTERM DEFEAT
President Trump on Sunday said that one of the reasons Republicans received a resounding slap in last week’s midterm elections is because Americans really don’t like Israel, with which his administration has a close relationship.
“There’s a great dislike, incredibly, for Israel,” Trump said, without elaborating.
Polling has shown US public support for Israel has fallen since the Gaza war began in 2023 in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack, particularly among Democrats.
Vice President JD Vance suggested last week that Republicans would have to change their relationship with Israel if they want to win future elections.
On the morning of the elections, Trump said the United States would cease providing $4 billion in annual military aid to Israel by the end of 2026. The comments reportedly caught Israeli security and financial officials off guard, given that the current memorandum of understanding on US military assistance to Israel, which gives the Jewish state $3.8 billion annually, doesn’t expire until the end of September 2028.
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