Board of Peace's focus must shift from temporary relief to a permanent foundation in Gaza: US businessman

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - US businessman Marc Rowan said at the Board of Peace's inaugural meeting Thursday in Washington, DC that the goal is to build the current momentum into a long-term foundation rather than just temporary relief for Gaza.

Rowan, the CEO of Apollo Global Management, said the plan gathers Gaza's productive assets into a unified structure, noting that this allows for independent, professional and conflict-free management of resources to benefit Gazans.

The unified approach also enables expeditious planning and zoning instead of fragmented projects that do not contribute to an economic whole, he added.

He said the initial plan involves building 100,000 homes for 500,000 residents, supplemented by a $5 billion investment in infrastructure.

He detailed that the long-term vision includes 400,000 homes for the entire population and more than $30 billion in infrastructure.

He pointed out that the Gaza coastline alone holds $50 billion in value.

On a conservative basis, the rebuilt housing stock and the infrastructure are each valued at more than $30 billion, he said.

Rowan added that this combined $115 billion of economic value simply “needs to be unlocked and financed.”

Putting the situation in financial terms, Rowan argued that this is not a problem of money or collateral, but rather a problem of peace.

He emphasized that the tremendous potential must start somewhere, identifying Khan Younis as the first location where security will be deployed.

Rowan is also the vice chairman of Darca Schools in Israel and the chairman of the board of the UJA-Federation of New York, which leads a multi-front strategy to combat antisemitism

Previously, he launched a major campaign against the University of Pennsylvania, of which he was a prominent donor, for hosting the Palestine Writes Literature Festival on its campus in September 2023, claiming the festival featured "well-known anti-Semites and fomenters of hate” and publicly demanding the resignations of then-President Elizabeth Magill and Board of Trustees Chair Scott Bok.

“UPenn President Elizabeth Magill’s allowance of the university’s imprimatur to be associated with this conference and her failure to condemn this hate-filled call for ethnic cleansing normalized and legitimized violence that ranged from the targeting of Jewish students and spaces here to the horrific attacks in Israel," he said.

Magill resigned after intense pressure from donors, politicians and alumni.