The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, nominated on Tuesday to the president of the United States, Donald Trump, for the Nobel Peace Prize, the highest profile International Prize awarded to an individual or organization that is most considered to have done the most to “advance in the scholarships between the nations.”
In his letter to the Nobel Committee, he shared online, Netanyahu said that Trump had “demonstrated a firm and exceptional dedication to promote peace, security and stability worldwide.”
Trump, who is trying to negotiate the fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, has been nominated before. Pakistan said in June that he would recommend to Trump the prize for his work to help resolve the conflict with India.
Trump’s Netanyahu nomination has generated skepticism in some sectors, including former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt, who said in X that Netanyahu was trying to flatter Trump.
If Trump won the prize, he would be the fifth president of the United States to do so, after Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama.
Here is a look at how the prize works:
Who is eligible to win?
According to the will of the Swedish industrial Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, the prize must go to the person “that has made more or better to advance in the communities between the nations, the abolition or reduction of permanent armies and the establishment and promotion of the Peace Congresses.”
All living people or active institutions are eligible.
In an introduction to the Nobel website, the president of the La Paz Awards Committee, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, says: “In practice, anyone can receive the Nobel Peace Prize. The history of the prize clearly shows people from all layers of society around the world.”
The Nobel Awards are announced in October of each year, but the nominations close the previous January, which means that Trump’s nomination by Netanyahu could not be considered this year.
Who can nominate?
Thousands of people can propose names: members of governments and parliaments; Current Heads of State; University professors of history, social sciences, law and philosophy; and the former Nobel Peace Prize Award, among others. You can’t name yourself.
The nominees lists remain a secret for 50 years, although there is nothing that prevents those who make nominations reveal their choices.
Who decides the winner?
The Nobel Committee of Norway, consisting of five people designated by the Norwegian Parliament, is the referee. Members are often retired politicians, but not always. The current committee is led by the head of the Norwegian branch of Pen International, a group that defends freedom of expression.
All are presented by Norwegian political parties and their appointments reflect the balance of power in the Parliament of Norway.
How does the winner decide the committee?
The first meeting of the Committee takes place in February of each year, when the members of the committee can make their own nominations to add to the list.
Last year, there were 286 nominees, and in 2025, there are 338 candidates nominated for the award: 244 individuals and 94 organizations.
The Committee reduces nominations to make a short list, and each nominee is evaluated by a group of permanent advisors and other experts.
The committee points to unanimity, but can decide for most votes. A final decision often only takes a few days before the prize is announced.
Controversies
The Nobel Peace Prize has often been seen as a political message. The Nobel website says that some winners have been “highly controversial political actors”, while the prize has also increased public approach to international or national conflicts.
Obama won the award just a few months after assuming the position. Two members of the Committee resigned from the decision in 1973 to grant the La Paz Prize to the United States Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger and the Vietnamese politician Duc thcho for negotiating the end of the Vietnam War.
A member resigned in 1994 when Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat shared the award with Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin de Israel.
What does the laureate get?
A medal, a diploma, 11 million Swedish crowns ($ 1.15 million) and immediate world attention, if they are not yet famous.
When are the announcement and the ceremony?
The announcement of this year’s prize will be held on October 10 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo.
The ceremony will take place at the Oslo City Council on December 10, the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel.
