The war in Gaza has “created a once-in-a-century opportunity to rebuild Gaza from first principles . . . as a secure, modern prosperous society.”
Something rather unusual happened this past Sunday. The Financial Times published an article exposing how Tony Blair’s eponymous foundation, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (often shortened to TBI), had been involved in consultations with Israeli businessmen and the Boston Consulting Group, one of the world’s largest consultancies, regarding the sweeping post-war redevelopment of the Gaza Strip — once the genocide is presumably over.
Those plans “envisaged ‘kickstarting the enclave’s economy with a ‘Trump Riviera’ and an ‘Elon Musk Smart Manufacturing Zone’” that would boost Gaza’s economic value from “$0 today” to $324 billion. According to a TBI document seen by the FT, the near-total destruction of Gaza had “created a once-in-a-century opportunity to rebuild [the strip of land] from first principles . . . as a secure, modern prosperous society”.
This being the tech-obsessed TBI, this “secure, modern prosperous society” would presumably avail of all the digital surveillance and control fittings that Blair and his institute are constantly peddling as the cure-all to all of today’s ills (digital health systems, facial recognition cameras and other forms of biometric tech, all-encompassing digital identity systems and central bank digital currencies, all powered by artificial intelligence programs).
This is not the first time Blair’s name has been linked to the Gaza Strip since Israel began its operations there on October 9, 2023. A report published in early 2024 by the Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 claimed that Israeli leaders were considering Blair as a possible mediator between Israel and some moderate Arab countries on post-war Gaza. One of his responsibilities would be to help oversee the “voluntary resettlement” of Palestinians in other countries.
Blair’s representatives denied the rumours, saying that neither Blair nor his team had been consulted before the story’s publication. But the allegations in the FT are going to be much more difficult to swat away:
The plan outlined in a slide deck, seen by the Financial Times, was led by Israeli businessmen and used financial models developed inside Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to reimagine Gaza as a thriving trading hub.
Titled the “Great Trust” and shared with the Trump administration, it proposed paying half a million Palestinians to leave the area and attracting private investors to develop Gaza.
While the Tony Blair Institute (TBI) did not author or endorse the final slide deck, two staff members at the former UK prime minister’s institute participated in message groups and calls as the project developed, according to people familiar with the work.
One lengthy document on postwar Gaza, written by a TBI staff member, was shared within the group for consideration. This included the idea of a “Gaza Riviera” with artificial islands off the coast akin to those in Dubai, blockchain-based trade initiatives, a deep water port to tie Gaza into the India-Middle East-Europe economic corridor, and low-tax “special economic zones”.
A TBI spokesperson initially told the FT that their story was “categorically wrong . . . TBI was not involved in the preparation of the deck, which was a BCG deck, and had no input whatever into its contents.”
But when presented with documents attesting to the participation of TBI staff and an unpublished TBI document shared within the group titled “Gaza Economic Blueprint”, the institute acknowledged its staff had been aware of and present during related discussions.
However, the Institute insisted that “it would be wrong to suggest that we were working with this group to produce their Gaza plan.” Instead, it claims it was simply in a “listening mode” and that its internal paper, which, to its minimal credit, does not propose relocating Palestinians, unlike the Israeli businessmen’s proposal, was one of many analyses of post-war scenarios under consideration.
A Polarising Figure
The FT’s revelations represent a rare case of a British legacy media outlet taking Blair, or in this case TBI, to task. While broadly reviled by the British public, Blair continues to be feted and fawned over by the British establishment and media. Even after the “crushing verdict” (in The Guardian‘s words) of the Chilcott Inquiry — that the Blair government’s case for the Iraq war was “deficient” — was made public in 2016, Blair remained a go-to person for the British and international media on all manner of topics, including the Middle East.
Perhaps this will be a sea-change moment in which the British media begin to treat Blair and TBI with less reverence. Given the outsized influence both wield over the Kier Starmer government, particularly in areas related to AI, digital identity and digital health, that would be a most welcome development. But it’s unlikely. Blair is a master at seeing off challenges to his power, earning himself the nickname “Teflon Tony” while in power, and he and his foundation serve the interests of some very powerful business groups…
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Nick Corbishley 