Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he has nominated Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, presenting the US president with a letter he sent to the prize committee.
The move comes as Israel continues its onslaught on Gaza, which has so far killed 57,523 Palestinians. Last year, the UN-backed International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, citing allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The court said he, along with ex-defence minister Yoav Gallant, “intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival”, including food, water, medicine, fuel, and electricity.
“He’s forging peace as we speak, in one country, in one region after the other,” Netanyahu said at a dinner with Trump at the White House.
Trump has received multiple Nobel Peace Prize nominations from supporters and loyal lawmakers over the years and has made no secret of his irritation at missing out on the prestigious award.
The Republican has complained that he had been overlooked by the Norwegian Nobel Committee for his mediating role in conflicts between India and Pakistan, as well as Serbia and Kosovo.
In 2024, he insisted that he was more deserving of a Nobel than ex-president Barack Obama, and complained how it was unfair that “anybody else” but him would have been honoured with one.
In June, Pakistan had also decided to formally recommend Trump for the coveted prize, given his role in de-escalating the India-Pakistan conflict when both neighbours stepped back from the brink of war after US mediation.
However, as the US joined Israel’s war with Iran and launched attacks on three Iranian nuclear facilities, Pakistani lawmakers, activists, authors and ex-diplomats criticised the move. A resolution was also submitted in the Senate by the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl to rescind the decision but led to no tangible outcome as Pakistan had not officially submitted the nomination.
A day earlier, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump has delivered “wins for the American people” and referenced
Pakistan’s nomination following the US-brokered ceasefire.
During a press briefing, she said, “Pakistan nominated President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his decisive diplomatic intervention to prevent a nuclear war between India and Pakistan.”
Trump has also demanded credit for “keeping peace” between Egypt and Ethiopia and brokering the Abraham Accords, a series of agreements aiming to normalise relations between Israel and several Arab nations.
He campaigned for office as a “peacemaker” who would use his negotiating skills to quickly end conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, although both conflicts are still raging more than five months into his presidency.