Durable change over empty symbolism: Donald Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, writes Israeli Minister
I write not as a politician or diplomat, but as an Israeli mother - a child and grandchild of survivors, shaped by my people’s centuries of persecution, expulsions, and existential struggle.
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My grandparents survived the Holocaust; others were forced from their homes in the Middle East; I served as a combat soldier in the IDF during the Second Intifada. Growing up in Israel and bringing my three little girls up here too, I know a genuine peace must be grounded in strength, moral clarity, and real deterrence - not mere words or symbolism. That’s why what President Trump has achieved in the Middle East is deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize.
As Israelis, nothing matters more right now than bringing every hostage home and securing a ceasefire that ends the bloodshed for good. In a development that has the potential to alter the course of this tragic two-year war, a U.S.-brokered agreement - championed publicly by President Trump - has produced a first phase that calls for a near-term pause in fighting, the release of the remaining hostages from Gaza within days, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from much of the Gaza Strip as part of an orderly pullback.
Under the deal’s initial timetable, all of our hostages are to be freed within 72 hours of the ceasefire taking hold, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners - many of whom are convicted terrorists, who have committed heinous crimes against Israelis. This is a bitter pill to swallow.
We must be clear-eyed about what this is and what it is not. It does not magically erase the horrors of October 7th or immediately remove the threat of Hamas terror. But it does what matters most in this hour: it brings our people home, relieves civilian suffering, and creates the breathing space required to dismantle the infrastructure of terror - not to reward it. The terms being implemented include releases of living hostages and the remains of the dead in exchange for Palestinian detainees and a staged Israeli withdrawal.
That practical, phased approach is exactly in line with the vision President Trump articulated: a 20-point framework that tied reconstruction and prosperity for Gaza to Hamas demilitarisation, the removal of external malign influence, and dependable security guarantees for Israel.
Trump’s model rejects the old transactional script of endless concessions without enforcement; instead, it conditions humanitarian relief and rebuilding on verifiable steps to end terror and prevent rearmament. That logic - peace through security and accountability - is precisely what has allowed regional partners to step forward and normalise cooperation with Israel in recent years.
Let us not forget the broader record either. The Abraham Accords and other measures during Trump’s first administration shifted strategic incentives across the Middle East; they made it possible for Arab states to treat Israel as a partner rather than a pariah, and that shift created the regional architecture enabling a multilateral effort today to pressure Hamas and its sponsors. True diplomacy is not merely talk; it is the re-ordering of interests so that peace is in the everyday calculations of states.
We should also remember the lessons of the last decade: appeasement toward terror breeds catastrophe. For years, Hamas used reconstruction aid, relief flows, and permissive governance as cover to arm and entrench. The result was October 7th, and the terrible price paid by Israeli families.
Trump’s policy - maximum pressure on Iran and its proxies, refusal to legitimise terror institutions that incite, and insistence on security first - confronted that logic. The current phased agreement demonstrates how those pressures can translate into concrete results: hostages freed, a pause to the fighting, and a chance to begin real reconstruction under verified safeguards.
Take note, Macron and Starmer: your pathetic posturing in the middle of this war to reward Hamas with a Palestinian state will go down in history as one of the most cack-handed and cowardly political decisions ever witnessed. This decision by France, the UK, Australia and Canada prolonged the suffering of all and rewarded Hamas.
The Nobel Peace Prize should honour leadership that produces durable change, not empty symbolism. The events of this week - the cabinet approval of a Trump-backed plan, the imminent release of hostages, and the international architecture to monitor a ceasefire - are the kind of tangible outcomes the Prize was meant to acknowledge.
As we fight to ensure this phase is implemented responsibly and that the hard work of disarming terror continues, it is appropriate to recognise the role of those whose diplomacy created the opening for hostages to come home and for this region to begin the slow work of rebuilding. For vision that linked peace to security, for the practical diplomacy that helped produce this emergency ceasefire and hostage plan, Donald Trump should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
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Sharren Haskel is the Israeli Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.
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