WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented US President Donald Trump on Monday with a letter he sent to the Norwegian Nobel Committee nominating the latter for a Nobel Peace Prize.
At the opening of their White House dinner, Netanyahu rose to his feet and surprised Trump with the letter.
“It’s well deserved, and you should get it,� Netanyahu said.
“Wow,� Trump replied. “Coming from you in particular, this is very meaningful.�
In the letter, Netanyahu praised Trump’s “steadfast and exceptional dedication to promoting peace, security, and stability around the world.”
He wrote that the Abraham Accords are “foremost� among Trump’s achievements in creating peace.
“President Trump’s vision and bold leadership promoted innovative diplomacy defined not by conflict and extremism but by cooperation, dialogue, and shared prosperity,� Netanyahu continued.
Two weeks after Trump ordered US planes to bomb three key Iranian nuclear facilities, he told reporters at the dinner that he was ready to strike again if necessary.
“They want to make peace, and I’m all for it. If that’s not the case, we are ready, willing and able, but I don’t think we’re going to have to,â€� said Trump.
US Special Envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff said that the first round of nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran since last month’s 12-day war between Israel and Iran will be held “in the next week or so.�
Trump said that Iran “wants to talk” after they took a “big drubbing.” He also acknowledged that he doesn’t completely see a purpose for talks, given his belief that Tehran’s nuclear program has been destroyed.
“But [the Iranians] requested a meeting, and I’m going to go to a meeting, and if we can put something down on paper, that will be fine,� Trump said.
He reiterated his assertion that Iran’s nuclear program was “obliterated.�
In his remarks ahead of the dinner, Netanyahu said that the “partnership between Israel and the United States — the partnership between President Trump and me — produced a historic victory.�
“They were planning to build 20,000 of these things [ballistic missiles] and launch them on a country the size of New Jersey. No country can withstand that. So what do you do when you have two things that are going to kill you? You have to remove them with our combined effort [and] we did,� Netanyahu said.
“I’d like to believe that Iran would not test our fortitude, because it would be a mistake,� he threatened, adding that regime change is up to the people of Iran.�
Witkoff met with Netanyahu on Monday and joined the dinner before he was slated to fly to Qatar to participate in indirect talks between Israel and Hamas.
Asked to provide an update on the ongoing ceasefire-hostage talks, Witkoff said, “We have an opportunity to finally get a peace deal.�
Trump told reporters on Sunday that there was a “good chance� a deal could be reached “during the week.�
Proximity talks between Israel and Hamas have been ongoing in Doha since Sunday.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that Trump’s “utmost priority� is to end the war in Gaza and return all of the remaining hostages, adding that an “agreeable and appropriate� proposal is on the table after Israel backed it, and urging Hamas to do the same.
Hamas said over the weekend that it responded positively to the offer, while submitting three reservations that Netanyahu subsequently asserted were unacceptable.
Referring to Trump’s plan to relocate Gazans, Netanyahu said that Israel and the US are “getting close to finding several countriesâ€� who will take in Palestinians who would like to leave the war-torn Gaza Strip.
“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,� Netanyahu said. Gaza “shouldn’t be a prison. It should be an open place.�
The Israeli government has seized on on Trump’s Gaza takeover plan, framing it as an opportunity to “encourage the voluntary migration� of Palestinians from the Strip.
Israel is convinced Trump is serious about encouraging Gazans to emigrate voluntarily, a senior Israeli official said after the dinner.
“After tonight, I am [convinced],� said the official.
“The plan is alive, What is needed is operational coordination, not only the aims, but how we achieve it. And that is what we discussed. The desire is there.�
During the dinner, Netanyahu rejected the idea of a full Palestinian state, something has done repeatedly in the past. “I think Palestinians should have all the powers to govern themselves, but none of the powers to threaten us,� he said.
“That means that certain powers, like overall security, will always remain in our hands,â€� he continued. “We’ll work out a peace with our Palestinian neighbors — 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.”
While some neighboring countries have taken in Palestinians for medical treatment, none have publicly agreed to cooperate with the Trump initiative, not wanting to interfere in what is seen as a land conflict between Israel and the Palestinians — particularly as some of Netanyahu’s coalition partners have been pushing the construction of settlements in Gaza areas cleared of Palestinians
Netanyahu is scheduled to meet US Vice President J.D. Vance at 9:15 a.m. local time on Tuesday at the Blair House. He will then meet US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson on Capitol House, before returning to the Blair House for more meetings.
At 4 p.m., Netanyahu will head to the Senate for meetings with Majority Leader John Thune, Democratic Senator John Fetterman, and other senators.
Trump is dangling the possibility of an agreement between Israel and Syria as a carrot in exchange for Israel agreeing to end the war in Gaza, Israel Hayom reported, citing “sources close to the White House.�
The report claimed Trump sent an envoy to Damascus on Monday to nail down a Syria-Israel agreement with the US as guarantor.
The White House meeting between Netanyahu and Trump came hours after the US announced that it was revoking its “foreign terrorist organization� designation of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group once linked to Al-Qaeda that took control of Syria in December 2024.
Asked whether he is comfortable with the quick warming of US ties with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s government, given Israel’s more cautious public approach, Netanyahu said the weakening of Iran and its proxies in the region presents new opportunities “for stability, for security, and eventually for peace.�
He also hailed Trump for opening “up a channel� with the new government in Damascus. He declined to reveal whether Israel is engaged in direct talks with Syria. Only indirect channels have been publicly confirmed to date.
While historic foe Israel initially viewed Sharaa with suspicion, it later expressed interest in striking normalization agreements with Syria and neighboring Lebanon. It has insisted that the strategic Golan Heights — which Israel captured from Syria in 1967 and later annexed — would remain part of Israel under any peace accord.
On Friday, Syria said it was willing to cooperate with the United States to reimplement a 1974 disengagement agreement with Israel.
The Assad regime was toppled after more than 13 years of civil war by a rebel offensive led by Sharaa.
Trump reiterated that he decided to lift US sanctions against Syria at the request of many countries, “including Bibi.”