Trump to receive Israel's highest civilian honour after 'very productive meeting' with Netanyahu
The Israel Peace Prize is rarely awarded to non-Israeli citizens
Donald Trump will receive Israel’s highest civilian honour, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed following a “very productive” meeting with the US president.
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Mr Trump said it was "really surprising and very much appreciated" to receive the Israel Peace Prize the state's highest civilian honour.
The Israeli Prime Minister told Mr Trump he would receive the award during a meeting in Mar-A-Lago, Palm Beach, Florida.
Speaking following the meeting, Mr Netanyahu told reporters: "In almost our 80 years, we've never awarded it to a non-Israeli. And we're going to award it this year to President Trump."
He added that Trump is receiving the award "for his tremendous contributions to Israel and the Jewish people".
The Israel Peace has only been awarded on rare occasions to non-Israeli citizens in the past.
The only exception is the award for “special contribution towards the Jewish people,” which Mr Netanyahu believes justifies Mr Trump receiving the award.
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Mr Netanyahu thanked Mr Trump for his support for Israel, hailing him for his "extraordinary friendship".
"He's achieved remarkable things in the Middle East because we worked together," he said.
He added: "We talk about our ideas. Sometimes we have different ideas, but we work it out, and most of the time we see eye to eye.
"But it's been a remarkable experience and this was a very, very productive meeting."
It marks the second peace prize Mr Trump has received in just weeks, with the American leader unsurprisingly being given the first ever FIFA peace prize at the World Cup draw ceremony in Washington DC.
The award is a hugely controversial one, with human rights campaigners having urged FIFA not to hand the prize to Mr Trump.
During Monday’s press conference, Mr Trump also issued a stern warning to Hamas, revealing the group has a limited time to disarm.
He warned: “But if they don’t disarm – as they agreed to do, they agreed to it – then there’ll be hell to pay for them.
“And we don’t want that. But they have to disarm within a fairly short period of time.”
The world leaders also met to discuss their mutual enemy Iran amid Israeli concerns that the Islamic Republic is rearming.
Asked about Iran, Mr Trump said: "I hear that Iran is trying to build up again, and if they are, we're going to have to knock them down, we'll knock them down, we'll knock the hell out of them," he says.
"But hopefully that's not happening. I heard Iran wants to make a deal. If they want to make a deal, that's much smarter.
"You know, they could have made a deal the last time, before we did a big attack on them."
He added: "I think, again, they should make a deal. They want to make a deal. But sometimes that doesn't happen."