Netanyahu Presents Trump With Nomination For Nobel Peace Prize As Both Downplay ‘Two-State Solution’

Among the more interesting highlights from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the White House on Monday was that during the Trump-hosted dinner, and at a moment the Gaza war is still raging, Bibi presented the US president with a letter nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Part of the stated rationale was that Trump pushed for a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, which has held, though the whole 12-day war seemed highly planned and choreographed between Washington and Tel Aviv. Widespread reports said that Trump greenlit Israel’s surprise attack and even set up a sham nuclear talks process in order to lull Iran into a false sense of comfort. The Abraham Accords were also a big reason for Netanyahu’s gesture.

“The president has already realized a great opportunity. He forged the Abraham Accords. He’s forging peace as we speak in one country and one region after the other,” Netanyahu 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.”

“This I didn’t know,” Trump said upon receiving and looking over the letter. “Wow. Thank you very much. Coming from you in particular, this is very meaningful.”

But ironically, at this very moment the region is still on fire – literally and figuratively. War is flaring up again the Red Sea and in Yemen, Israel’s military is still taking on mass casualties and inflicting them on the Palestinian population in Gaza, and Syria is now overrun by various terrorist groups in the wake of Assad’s fall. Israel’s military is also still taking occasional shots at Lebanon, including bombing raids.

As its stands, President Trump doesn’t seem in the mood to employ the standard two-state solution talking point of pretty much all past and recent administrations. He responded, “I don’t know” when he was asked by reporters whether a two-state solution was possible.

Netanyahu, for his part, explained that “After October 7th, people said the Palestinians have a state, a Hamas state in Gaza and look what they did with it. They didn’t build it up. They 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, our kibbutzim and did horrendous massacres, the kind of which we didn’t see since World War II and the Nazis, the Holocaust. So people aren’t likely to say, ‘Let’s just give them another state.’ It’ll be a platform to destroy Israel.”

Netanyahu seems to be saying it’s ‘either us or them’ in terms of who is fated for destruction. His brutal policies in Gaza also speak loudest.

“We will work out a peace with our Palestinian neighbors, those who don’t want to destroy us and we will work out a peace in which our security, the sovereign power of security, always remains in our hands,” Netanyahu continued.

“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.”

Another interesting moment from the White House dinner, related to Syria and regional geopolitics:

Trump finally publicly admitted that Netanyahu asked him to lift sanctions on Syria, in case anyone is still denying Jolani’s utility for Israel.

Trump was very impressed by Jolani and said his tough background (ISIS/AQ) makes sense, since “he’s from a tough part of the world.” pic.twitter.com/cX3URpNQUp

— Lindsey Snell (@LindseySnell) July 8, 2025

Trump has appeared generally supportive of this more hawkish and unbending stance from the Israeli leader, even as diplomats in the region continue to forge ahead on renewed ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel, which are being conducted ‘indirectly’.