Netanyahu nominates Trump for Nobel Peace Prize

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Donald Trump he was nominating the US president for a Nobel Peace Prize as they sat down for a dinner in the White House.

“He’s forging peace as we speak, and one country and one region after the other,” Netanyahu said as he presented Trump with a nominating letter he said he is sending the Nobel committee.

His announcement came as the two leaders sat down with their top aides for a dinner to mark the military operation in Iran and discuss efforts to push forward with a 60-day ceasefire proposal in Gaza.

Speaking at the White House, Netanyahu said he wanted peace with Palestinians but described any future independent state as a platform to destroy Israel and for that reason sovereign power of security must remain with Israel.

The Israeli Prime Minister described the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel as evidence of what Palestinians would do with a state.

“Now people will say, ‘It’s not a complete state, it’s not a state, it’s not that.’ We don’t care. We vowed never again. Never again is now. It’s not going to happen again,” he said.

Meanwhile Trump said, “I don’t know” when asked by reporters if a two-state solution was possible, and referred the question to Netanyahu.

In an exchange before reporters before the dinner got underway, both leaders expressed optimism that their success would mark a new era in the Middle East.

“I think things are going to be really settled down a lot in the Middle East,” Trump said. “And, they respect us and they respect Israel.”

Trump has made clear that following last month’s 12-day war between Israel and Iran he would like to see the Gaza conflict end soon.

The meeting between Trump and Netanyahu may give new urgency to a US ceasefire proposal being discussed by Israel and Hamas, but whether it leads to a deal that ends the war is unclear.

“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,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters ahead of the leaders’ private dinner.

With agencies