Why Netanyahu Is Playing The Nobel Card?

In a calculated move to curry favour with the US President, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has joined the bandwagon of hard-core supporters who want Donald Trump to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Over dinner at the White House on Monday, Netanyahu flourished the letter he had written to the Nobel committee to nominate Trump. The Israeli leader is thrilled that America under Trump had fulfilled his long-cherished wish to get the Iranian nuclear facilities bombed.

He’s forging peace as we speak, one country and one region after the other,” Netanyahu said as he presented Trump with a copy of the letter he had sent to Oslo. The Israeli leader is on his third visit to Washington since Trump took office in January.

Netanyahu, a shrewd and seasoned political operator, knows that flattery is the currency Trump values most. Despite the bonhomie between the two leaders, Netanyahu realizes that Trump can change course within hours on critical issues if he thinks it won’t pay him political dividends.

"What we've seen from his six months back in office He’s just looking for wins. If he can get a win, he runs with it. If he doesn't, even if he tosses out an idea, if it goes nowhere, he's perfectly glad to discard it or wait on it,’’ Kenneth Pollack, American expert on West Asia said at a recent talk show on National Public Radio. Netanyahu knows that the stakes are high and preparing the groundwork by pleasing Trump might be a good way to start.

At the moment the US President is focused on pushing for a 30-day ceasefire in Gaza. He has also signaled openness to direct talks not just with Iran but also with Hamas (as was done earlier by Steve Witkoff, US special envoy to the region) and the

Houthis. Israel was out of the loop. Netanyahu realizes that he is navigating a tricky slope with Trump. He is making sure to keep him close—with praise, deference, and symbolic gestures that play well with Trump.

The US is also preparing for talks with Iran. Trump said ``We have scheduled Iran talks and they want to talk,’’ he told reporters with Netanyahu by his side. The exact dates are yet to be finalised by Witkoff who will head the negotiations hinted they would ``next week or so.’’

Netanyahu is wary of direct negotiations between the US and Iran. He is never sure what Trump may agree to in a deal where Israel is not involved. In fact Iranian diplomats always point to the fact that Israel gets nervous every time the US begins talks with Iran and often tries to create hurdles on the way. But Netanyahu also knows that he can influence Trump only up to a point.

A ceasefire in Gaza may not be a cakewalk. Hamas want’s a permanent ceasefire not a sixty-day stop- gap arrangement to get the hostages back. Netanyahu is under enormous pressure from his far-Right coalition partners to continue the war and annex as much territory as possible in the West Bank. Netanyahu also has political problems and the issue of the corruption case against him.

Netanyahu’s popularity at the moment is high, so he is mulling whether to hold snap elections. He's still facing a war with Gaza. There seems to be no sign that he's actually interested in a meaningful permanent ceasefire. Also while Trump and Netanyahu were in a celebratory mood in their first meeting after the attack on Iran, the extent of damage on the nuclear facilities is still unclear. While Iran is out, they're certainly down. But whether their nuclear program has gone for good and how long before Tehran can get back to having a bomb is an open question.

Knowing the temperamental US President, Netanyahu who reads him well is keen to remain on his good books ends.