Israel appeared to break with the Trump administration on Saturday over the makeup of a key committee to oversee the cease-fire in Gaza, saying it would raise the matter with Washington.
On Friday, the White House announced a “Gaza Executive Board” that would help administer the truce between Israel and Hamas. The members included Ali al-Thawadi, a senior Qatari official, and Hakan Fidan, the Turkish foreign minister, among others. While an Israeli businessman is on the committee, Israeli officials are not on it.
The Israeli prime minister’s office issued a written statement calling the committee “at odds with Israeli policy,” but did not explicitly elaborate on the rationale. But Israeli officials, including Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s prime minister, have previously voiced fierce opposition to Turkish involvement in postwar Gaza.
Since the war in Gaza, Israel and Turkey have increasingly been at odds. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president, has downgraded ties with Israel, compared Mr. Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler, and praised Hamas, whose attack on October 2023 started the war.
Israeli officials have slammed Turkey for hosting Hamas leaders. And Israel is anxious about Turkey already gaining a foothold on another front in Syria, whose government — which replaced the rule of Bashar al-Assad in late 2024 — is seen as close to Ankara.
Mr. Netanyahu’s political opponents in Israel were quick to criticize him over Turkey’s involvement on the executive board. Yair Lapid, the leader of Israel’s parliamentary opposition, called it a “grave diplomatic failure” by Israel.
President Trump, however, has praised Mr. Erdogan as a close ally and friend.
“He’s a very good friend of mine, and I do respect him, and Bibi respects him,” Mr. Trump said in late December, referring to Mr. Netanyahu by his nickname. “They’re not going to have a problem.”
The dust-up came as world leaders on Saturday were deciding whether to join Mr. Trump’s “Board of Peace,” another component of his ambitious peace plan for Gaza. At least four countries said they had received invitations to participate, including Argentina, Canada, Egypt — and Turkey.
The board, made up of world leaders and chaired by Mr. Trump, is supposed to carry out his peace plan for Israel and Hamas, among other responsibilities. In a post on Truth Social this week, Mr. Trump called the body “the Greatest and Most Prestigious Board ever assembled at any time, any place.”
But much about its mandate and vision remain unclear, and critics have wondered if Mr. Trump hopes to create a kind of American-dominated alternative to the United Nations Security Council.
Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada was also formally asked to join the Board of Peace, said Francois-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s finance minister. Mr. Carney planned to accept the invitation, said a Canadian official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to comply with protocol.
President Javier Milei of Argentina wrote on social media that he had accepted Mr. Trump’s invitation. Egypt and Turkey, which helped mediate between Israel and Hamas during the Gaza war, also said they had been asked to join, although neither immediately said whether it would.
Badr Abdelatty, Egypt’s foreign minister, said at a news conference on Saturday that his country was weighing the matter. And Burhanettin Duran, a Turkish government spokesman, said on social media that Mr. Trump had sent a letter to Mr. Erdogan on Friday inviting him to join the board.
Under Mr. Trump’s peace plan — now enshrined in a U.N. Security Council resolution — the Board of Peace is supposed to help carry out the next steps in the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.
The board’s full membership has not been announced. Instead, over the last week, U.S. officials have focused on announcing a series of committees that will have a central role.
On Friday, the White House named two executive committees that are to be staffed largely by Mr. Trump’s close aides, businessmen, and Middle Eastern officials. In addition to the Turkish foreign minister, the Gaza committee also includes Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, and Yakir Gabay, an Israeli businessman — but no Palestinians.
While the Trump administration is eager to show that its postwar plans are moving forward, analysts say there has been little tangible progress on many of the toughest roadblocks, more than three months after the truce between Israel and Hamas went into effect.
Israel continues to bomb Gaza on a near-daily basis, at times killing civilians, saying it is responding to cease-fire violations. Hamas has yet to return the body of the final Israeli captive in Gaza. The two sides seem little closer to agreeing on the way forward.
Matina Stevis-Gridneff contributed reporting from Doha, Qatar, and Rawan Sheikh Ahmad from Haifa, Israel.
Aaron Boxerman is a Times reporter covering Israel and Gaza. He is based in Jerusalem.
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