German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Friday that he would be prepared to join US President Donald Trump’s proposed Board of Peace initiative for the sake of Gaza, but made clear that Germany cannot accept the plan in its current form.
Speaking in Rome alongside Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and quoted by Reuters, Merz said he had personally informed Trump that he would join the board “if it were a body that supports the peace process in Gaza."
However, he stressed that “in the form in which the peace board is currently set up, we cannot accept its governance structures in Germany for constitutional reasons."
Merz added that Germany remains open to exploring alternative avenues for cooperation with Washington. “We are prepared to consider other forms - new forms - of cooperation with the United States if the aim is to find new formats that bring us closer to peace in different regions of the world," he said.
Meloni said she has also asked the United States whether the terms of the proposed board can be discussed, noting that its current statute is incompatible with Italy’s constitution. Still, she argued that Italy should not dismiss the initiative outright.
“The decision to exclude oneself a priori is wrong," Meloni said. “Italy's position is one of openness and interest in the initiative, and I believe Italy can play a leading role in stabilizing the Middle East."
Spain, however, announced outright it will not participate in Trump’s Board of Peace, saying the decision aligns with its commitment to multilateralism and the UN system.
“We appreciate the invitation, but we decline," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said after an EU summit in Brussels, adding that the board does not include the Palestinian Authority.
On Thursday, Trump said he was rescinding Canada’s invitation to what he called “the most prestigious Board of Leaders ever assembled, at any time." This came hours after he formally inaugurated the board at the World Economic Forum in Davos, with few Western partners standing beside him.
About 60 countries have been invited, and more than a dozen have agreed to join. On Wednesday, Turkey, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates announced they would join.
Hours prior, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he has accepted Trump’s invitation and will join the Board of Peace.
The Board of Peace’s charter suggests Trump is positioning it as a rival to the United Nations, despite its original stated purpose of overseeing Gaza’s reconstruction.
Commenting on this on Thursday, European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas indicated that European leaders would be willing to work with the Board of Peace, if its focus is narrowed down to Gaza.
"We want to work for peace in the Middle East, and we want this board of peace to be limited to the UN Security Council resolution as it was foreseen," Kallas said.
"So if we narrow it down to Gaza like it was meant to be, then we can work with it," she added.
(Arutz Sheva-Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)