Donald Trump He found in Tony Blair to his unexpected letter to leave the alley in Loop. After the rejection of Benjamin Netanyahu To the plan approved by the UN General Assembly – which proposed a rapid transfer of the strip to the Palestinian authority – the White House promoted a turn: putting the former British prime minister at the head of a “transition government” that manages the territory for up to five years.
The proposal, baptized as Gaza Transitory International Authority (Gita)would give Blair the highest political and legal authority over the strip, with an initial headquarters in Egypt and support for a multinational force sponsored by the UN. It is not a minor detail: the scheme remembers the precedents of Kosovo and Timor Eastern, where an international administration handled the postwar process before independence.
Blair’s choice seeks to send a balance message. For Israel, it represents an acceptable face, with experience and good harmony with several gulf leaders. For Trump, it is the opportunity to meet his strategy after his original idea – gazing Gaza in a tourist and technological “riviera” after evicting millions of Palestinians – is unfeasible and scandalous. Blair is, in this context, a symbol of pragmatism: someone who does not excite, but who can order chaos.
The problem is that Blair divides waters. As Envoy of the Middle East between 2007 and 2015, he cultivated relations in the region, but for much of the Palestinians he embodies what opposite of self -determination: A Washington ally who in practice blocked the way to his own state. His role in the invasion of Iraq in 2003 also made him a figure marked by distrust. That today returns to the scene as Gaza administrator awakens more suspicion than enthusiasm.
The plan provides that Blair leads a board of seven to ten members and a secretariat of 25 people who would handle key areas: humanitarian aid, reconstruction, security, legislation and coordination with the Palestinian authority. There is talk of technocrats and a civil police without political affiliation, but all under international supervision. It is, in fact, an occupation with an institutional face.
Trump presents this formula as a “middle term” between its initial plan and the New York statement endorsed by more than 140 countries, which raised A rapid one year transition to a renovated Palestinian authority. But the key is what does not say: Blair’s project lacks a firm calendar for the creation of the Palestinian State. It is, therefore, Much more comfortable for Netanyahu and for those who in Washington fear delivering real power to a weakened AP.
The Arab countries have been clear: they would only accept to integrate a multinational force if there are political guarantees that Gaza will be part of a viable Palestinian state. Without that roadmap, the risk is that the gita becomes a life administration. And that Blair, far from facilitating a transition, ends up being the face of a new postponement.
Mahmud Abbas, from Ramala, already warned that Gaza is “an integral part of the Palestinian state” and that the AP is ready to assume governance. But his speech was heard at a distance, because the United States denied the visa to attend the General Assembly. That gesture summarizes the paradox of the moment: the door opens to Blair, but closes to the Palestinian leadership itself.
In short, Blair appears as an administrator of the impossible. His figure allows Trump to dodge the embarrassment of an unfeasible plan and keep Netanyahu within the game, while calming key Arab partners with an appearance of pragmatism. What is clear is that the former British prime minister returns to the center of the scene as a wild card that embodies provisionality. It can order the aid and contain immediate chaos, but it hardly manages to change the background of the conflict.
