A billionaire private equity chief with heavy pro-Israel political spending and past ties to Jeffrey Epstein now sits on the board deciding Gaza's future — bad news for Palestinians and for anyone hoping the process is neutral.

• Mark Rowan, who runs Apollo Global Management, was put on Trump's Board of Peace and is helping steer Gaza's rebuilding.
• He has pitched Gaza's ruins as a huge business opportunity, floating tens of billions in value from the coastline, new housing, and infrastructure.
• He gave $1.5 million to an AIPAC-linked super PAC, with the payments landing as it spent heavily to defeat Thomas Massie and progressive candidates.
• Filings show he and other Apollo executives dealt with Epstein on tax matters through the 2010s, after the firm said it never did business with him.
• His donations also flow to Susan Collins, whose state lost more than a thousand paper mill jobs when Apollo-run mills went bankrupt.

Outlook: Expect the Board of Peace to keep pushing a developer-led plan for Gaza while big donor money keeps shaping which members of Congress survive their primaries.