Blair’s Mideast experience a strength, and a weakness

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has returned to the forefront of Middle East peace efforts after a U.S. plan to end the Israel-Hamas war cast him in a leading role overseeing the postwar administration and reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

- By Jitu LAWLESS AND Danica KIRKA

It’s familiar territory for Blair, who spent eight years working to promote peace between Israelis and Palestinians as the international community's envoy to the Middle East.

His decision to step down, in 2015 was seen as a reflection of the dire state of Mideast peace efforts that devolved further under the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The U.S. proposal — which President Trump and Netanyahu said they agreed on after talks at the White House on Monday — would put Gaza’s territory and its more than 2 million people effectively under international control, deploying an international security force and installing a “Board of Peace” headed by Trump and Blair to oversee the administration and reconstruction.

Hamas said Tuesday it would study the plan, both within the group and with other Palestinian factions before responding.

Legacy of Iraq war

Blair has decades of experience in the Middle East. For some that’s his great strength — and for others his huge weakness.

As prime minister between 1997 and 2007, he took the United Kingdom into the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 despite strong public opposition. The subsequent conflict killed 179 British troops, some 4,500 American personnel and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.