Benjamin Netanyahu nominates Trump for Nobel Peace Prize

Benjamin Netanyahu said Donald Trump was ‘forging peace’ in the Middle East as he presented the President with a letter he sent to the prize committee; Trump says Iran talks to restart.

Benjamin Netanyahu has nominated Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize because of his efforts in reshaping the Middle East, but warned a Palestinian state would only serve as a “platform to destroy Israel” amid ongoing ceasefire talks with Hamas.

The Israeli Prime Minister strengthened his case with the administration for the Jewish state to retain control over security in Gaza as part of any long-term political settlement, but was optimistic that a broader peace in the region could be achieved.

Mr Trump also said that he was pursuing talks with Iran after ordering a US-led bombing strike on three of the rogue nation’s nuclear enrichment sites last month, declaring that “they’ve requested a meeting and I’m going to go to a meeting.”

“If we can put something down on paper that would be fine, that would be good. I think they’ve gained a lot of respect for us.”

Mr Netanyahu presented the US President with the letter he sent to the Nobel prize committee in a gesture aimed at projecting deep friendship and common cause with America. The letter praised Mr Trump for his “steadfast and exceptional dedication to promoting peace, security, and stability around the world.”

“President Trump’s vision and bold leadership promoted innovative diplomacy defined not by conflict and extremism but by co-operation, dialogue, and shared prosperity,” Mr Netanyahu said in the letter, dated July 1.

“Foremost among these achievements was President Trump’s pivotal role in facilitating the Abraham Accords. These groundbreaking agreements established formal diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab nations – including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco.”

Sitting across from Mr Trump, Mr Netanyahu said he wanted 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.’

“The President has already realised great opportunities. He forged the Abraham Accords. He’s forging peace as we speak in one country and one region after the other,” he said. “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 and you should get it.”

Both leaders, who were accompanied by their top advisers for an official dinner in the White House Blue Room, framed the 12-day war between Israel and Iran as a key victory which had changed the strategic outlook for the region.

“They (Iran) took a big drubbing I think when we hit the three sites really,” Mr Trump said. “That was the very beginning of the end.”

Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Blue Room of the White House. Picture: AFP.

A meeting with Iran is expected within the next week or so, with the US President suggesting that further details would be announced on Tuesday local time.

Pressed on whether be still believed in a two state solution in the Middle East, Mr Trump threw the “age old” question to Mr Netanyahu who said that he believed Palestinians should have “all the powers to govern themselves, but none of the powers to threaten us.”

“And that means that certain powers like overall security will always remain in our hands. Now that is a fact. And no-one in Israel will agree to anything else because we don’t commit suicide. We want life,” he said. “We cherish life for ourselves, for our neighbours. I think we can work out a peace for us and the entire Middle East with President Trump’s leadership. And by working together I think we can establish a very, very broad peace that will include all our neighbours.”

He said that Hamas had failed to build a future for the people of Gaza but had instead “built down into bunkers, into terror tunnels after which they massacred our people, raped our women, beheaded our men, invaded our cities and our towns and out kibbutzim.”

“So people aren’t likely to say ‘let’s just give them another state’ – it will be a platform to destroy Israel. We’ll work out a peace with our Palestinian neighbours, those who don’t want to destroy us. And we’ll work out a peace in which our security, the sovereign power of security always remains in our hands.”

“Now people will say ‘it’s not a complete state, it’s not a state’ … We don’t care. You know, we vowed never again,” he said.

Going into the meeting, Israel’s Channel 12 reported that the Israeli Prime Minister was expected to tell Mr Trump that he had three non-negotiable conditions for agreeing to a ceasefire with Hamas.

These red lines for the Jewish state included the complete destruction of Hamas, the exile of its leadership from Gaza and the full disarmament of the militants. .

While the Israeli Prime Minister was expected to show some flexibility on other issues – such as the distribution of humanitarian aid and the repositioning of IDF troops – the three red line conditions were reported to be “the point of contention in the efforts to reach a conclusion to the war.”

However, Mr Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said there was “an opportunity to finally get a peace deal” and was “hopeful for it very quickly.”

The US President said that he thought “things are going to be really settled down a lot in the Middle East” and was confident Hamas would agree to a truce.

“They want to meet and they want to have that ceasefire,” he said.

Pressed on his relocation plan to transfer Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, Mr Trump referred the question to Netanyahu, who said it was “brilliant vision.”

“It’s called free choice. You know, if people want to stay they can stay. But if they want to leave they should be able to leave. It shouldn’t be, you know, a prison,” he said. “We’re working with the United States very closely about finding countries that will seek to realise what they always said – that they wanted to give the Palestinians a better future. And I think we’re getting close to finding several countries.”

Before departing for Washington on Sunday, Mr Netanyahu praised the co-operation with the US for bringing a “huge victory over our shared enemy”. He struck a positive note on a ceasefire for Gaza, saying he was working “to achieve the deal under discussion, on the terms we agreed to”.

The Israeli Prime Minister met on Monday with Mr Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio before his dinner with Mr Trump. He is slated to meet on Tuesday with Vice President JD Vance and Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson as well as other members of Congress.

On Wednesday he is scheduled to meet with US Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth.

Benjamin Netanyahu at the dinner ahead of talks with Donald Trump. Picture: AFP.

White House officials are urging Israel and Hamas to quickly seal a new ceasefire agreement that would bring about a 60-day pause in the fighting, send aid flooding into Gaza and free at least some of the remaining 50 hostages held in the territory, 20 of whom are believed to be alive.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on Monday that Mr Witkoff would travel later this week to Doha, Qatar, for ceasefire and hostage talks.

However, a sticking point is whether the ceasefire will end the war altogether. Hamas has said it is willing to free all the hostages in exchange for an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

But Mr Netanyahu says the war will end once Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile – something it refuses to do.

Mr Trump is hoping to build on the fresh momentum he gained from the successful US-led strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities – something which will also provide another topic of conversation in his talks with Mr Netanyahu.

A new ceasefire proposal is currently on the table to try and secure an end to the nearly two year old war that was ignited when 1,200 Israelis were killed on October 7 2003 by Hamas terrorists in the greatest loss of life in an attack on Jews since the Holocaust.

The new deal being brokered by the US, Qatar and Egypt would introduce a temporary ceasefire of 60 days – creating a window for more serious differences to be resolved – and the framework has been accepted already by Hamas.

It would include the exchange of ten living Israeli hostages being held by Hamas in return for the release of Palestinian prisoners being held in Israel.