DONALD Trump has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Israeli leader presented Trump with a letter of recommendation, which he said had been sent to the prize committee, at a White House summit between the pair – their first meeting since joint military action against Iran.
Benjamin Netanyahu hands Donald Trump a latter recommending him for the Nobel peace prize, which he sent to the committee[/caption]
The two leaders spoke glowingly of their joint military action in Iran[/caption]
Trump shows Netanyahu a painting of the moment after his assassination attempt last year[/caption]
The allies also sat down in the context of ongoing negotiations between Israel and Hamas, in the hope of agreeing to a 60-day ceasefire.
Netanyahu said Trump was “forging peace as we speak, and one country and one region after the other”.
Trump appeared thrilled with the compliment, and told Netanyahu: “Coming from you in particular, this is very meaningful. Thank you very much, Bibi.”
It is a well-known ambition of Trump’s to win the award, and he has been nominated numerous times – often by countries seeking his favour.
Most recently, Pakistan’s government officially put his name forward in June – though the move was hotly contested internally just a day later when Trump blitzed nuclear sites in Iran.
The summit was a display of unity between Israel and the US following their joint efforts to buckle Iran’s nuclear programme during the “12-day war”.
After more than a week of Israel and Iran trading missiles, the US intervened with an impressive covert operation that involved world-leading bunker-buster bombs and missiles launched from submarines.
Trump is adamant that Iran’s nuclear programme has been gutted – and now says the regime has requested to restart negotiations.
He said on Monday: “We have scheduled Iran talks, and they want to. They want to talk.”
The two leaders also discussed progress towards a 60-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Representatives for the two sides met for indirect talks for the first time in six weeks in Qatar on Monday.
Both have spoken positively about the prospects, but there are reportedly a number of crucial sticking points
Netanyahu has long argued that Hamas must be completely disarmed and expelled from Gaza.
In turn, Hamas wants guarantees that the war would not resume after any ceasefire – as happened earlier this year.
When asked what was delaying the negotiations, Trump said: “I don’t think there is a hold-up. I think things are going along very well.”
All parties are working towards a ceasefire in Gaza – where Israeli strikes continue[/caption]
An anti-Israel billboard showing a picture of Netanyahu has appeard in Tehran, and reads: ‘Netanyahu failed in another war’[/caption]
Protesters outside the US Embassy in Tel Aviv calling for a ceasefire and the release of the remaining hostages[/caption]
And he deferred to Netanyahu when pressed for specifics about the plan for the people of Gaza – who seemed still to favour a highly-controversial plan to relocate Palestinians in neighbouring countries.
The Israeli PM claimed that moving the people of Gaza elsewhere would give them a “better future”.
He said: “I think President Trump had a brilliant vision, it’s called free choice.
“If people want to stay, they can stay, but if they want to leave, they should be able to leave.
“We’re working with the United States very closely about finding countries that will seek to realize what they always say, that they wanted to give the Palestinians a better future.
“I think we’re getting close to finding several countries.”
Trump then added to this sentiment, insisting: “We’ve had great cooperation from […] surrounding countries, great cooperation from every single one of them. So something good will happen.”
Earlier this year, the President floated the idea of relocating all the Palestinians in Gaza, and America turning it into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.
Trump and Netanyahu said they are working together to decide on a plan for the people of Gaza[/caption]
