Donald Trump nominated for Nobel Peace Prize by right-wing Norwegian MP over Israel-UAE normalisation deal

US President Donald Trump has been nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize by a right-wing Norwegian MP after he helped broker a controversial normalisation deal between Israel and the UAE.

Trump had been nominated by Norwegian politician Christian Tybring-Gjedde, according to Fox News, over the deal which followed years of close but quiet cooperation between Israel and the UAE on regional issues.

"For his merit, I think he has done more trying to create peace between nations than most other Peace Prize Nominees," Tybring-Gjedde, a member of parliament told the channel.

Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg, who kick-started a global movement, the pro-democracy activists of Hong Kong, and imprisoned Saudi Arabia women's rights campaigners Loujain Al-Hathloul have all been nominated for the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize.

They stand in stark contrast to the US president known for his divisive and inflamatory rhetoric but has been nominated for next year's prize.

Submissions for the prize were made online and nominees are discussed by the Nobel Prize committee before a shortlist is announced.

Tybring-Gjedde praised UAE-Israel normalisation and Trump's role in it.

In a letter to the committee he wrote: "As it is expected other Middle Eastern countries will follow in the footsteps of the UAE, this agreement could be a game changer that will turn the Middle East into a region of cooperation and prosperity."

Tybring-Gjedde nominated Trump for the prize in 2018 after his Singapore summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. He did not win.

He went on to praise Trump's "role in facilitating contact between conflicting parties and … creating new dynamics in other protracted conflicts, such as the Kashmir border dispute between India and Pakistan, and the conflict between North and South Korea, as well as dealing with the nuclear capabilities of North Korea."

In 2019 Trump predicted that he will be awarded the prize "for a lot of things".

"I think I'm going to get a Nobel Prize for a lot of things, if they gave it out fairly, which they don’t," he said at the time.

Twitter Post

"They gave it out - well, they gave one to Obama immediately upon his ascent to the presidency, and he had no idea why he got it. And you know what? That was the only thing I agreed with him on."

The news received mixed response: Some congratulated the move, whilst others criticised the nomination.

"Before we give him any more attention. Please note that Donald Trump receiving the Nobel Peace Prize nomination is as pointless as his Presidency," Oxford University lecturer Dr Jennifer Cassidt wrote on Twitter.

"ANYONE can be nominated for the Prize. Trump was nominated by a far-right anti-immigration Norwegian parliamentarian. Enough said."

Nominations are shortlisted in February and March, and winners are announced in October.

Normalisation to be signed

Israel and the UAE will sign a US-brokered agreement normalising their relations at the White House on 15 September, a US official said on Tuesday.

It is Israel's first such agreement with a Gulf nation and only its third with an Arab state, after Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994.

The establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and US allies in the Middle East is central to US President Donald Trump's regional strategy to contain Iran, also an arch-foe of Israel.

Under the deal, Israel has agreed to "suspend" annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank, without saying for how long. Netanyahu maintains the annexation plans are merely on pause.

The Palestinians have slammed the UAE's move as a "stab in the back" while their own conflict with Israel remains unresolved.