Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a visit to the White House surprised President Donald Trump by giving him a letter nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Trump welcomed Netanyahu for a dinner on Monday evening amid the US’s push for a Gaza ceasefire deal.
After Trump’s opening remarks at the dinner table in the Blue Room, Netanyahu began praising the president.
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‘I want to express the appreciation and admiration not only of all Israelis, but of the Jewish people and many, many admirers around the world, for your leadership, your leadership of the free world, your leadership of a just cause, and the pursuit of peace and security,’ said Netanyahu.
‘The president has an extraordinary team, and I think our teams, together, make, an extraordinary combination to meet challenges and seize opportunities.’
Netanyahu said that Trump has ‘already realized great opportunities’ like forging the 2020 Abraham Accords, which were diplomatic agreements between Israel and several Arab states.
‘He’s forging peace as we speak, in one country and one region after the other,’ the prime minister continued.
‘So, I want to present to you, Mr President, the letter I sent to the Nobel Prize committee. It’s nominating you for the peace prize, which is well-deserved.’
Netanyahu stood up and extended the letter to Trump across the table.
Trump accepted the letter and thanked Netanyahu, and said he did not know about the nomination ahead of time.
The two leaders were expected to discuss the recent US airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites, the future of Gaza, and normalizing relations with Israel’s neighbors, two sources told The New York Times.
Netanyahu on Monday met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at Blair House, and earlier with US Special Presidential Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff.
Witkoff, who took part in crafting the ceasefire proposal, plans to head this week to Doha, Qatar, where talks around the deal are underway.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday afternoon remarked on an ‘agreeable and appropriate’ ceasefire deal on the table.
‘The utmost priority for the president right now in the Middle East is to end the war in Gaza and to return all of the hostages,’ said Karoline Leavitt in the press briefing room.
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‘There was a cease-fire proposal that Israel supports that was sent to Hamas, and we hope that they will agree to this proposal. We want to see all of the hostages released.’
It marked Netanyahu’s third to the White House during Trump’s second term.
In a series of X posts on Sunday, Netanyahu wrote: ‘In my conversation with President Trump, I will, first of all, thank him for his very powerful involvement for Israel’s benefit.
‘We have never had such a friend in the White House. Our joint involvement brought a great victory over our mutual enemy – Iran.’
Trump on Sunday told reporters he believed a deal on Gaza was ‘close’.
‘I think there’s a good chance we have a deal with Hamas during the week,’ he said.
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