Trump, Netanyahu take a victory lap

WASHINGTON — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told President Donald Trump he was nominating the U.S. leader for a Nobel Peace Prize as the two took a victory lap Monday to hail their recent joint strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities as an unmitigated success. The two leaders sat down with their top aides for a dinner in the White House Blue Room to mark the Iran operation and discuss efforts to push forward with a 60-day ceasefire proposal to pause the 21-month conflict in Gaza. "He's forging peace as we speak, one country and one region after the other," Netanyahu said as he presented Trump with a nominating letter he said he sent the Nobel committee. The call for the peace prize comes after the Israeli leader for years had pressed Trump and his predecessors to take military action against Iran's nuclear program. Trump ordered U.S. forces to drop "bunker-buster" bombs and fire a barrage of Tomahawk missiles on three key Iranian nuclear sites. It also allowed Netanyahu to further ingratiate himself with Trump, who for years has made little secret of the fact that he covets a Nobel Peace Prize and sees himself as a capable peacemaker. He's trumpeted recent truces that his administration facilitated between India and Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, and Israel and Iran. "Coming from you in particular, this is very meaningful," Trump told Netanyahu as the prime minister handed him the nomination letter. Netanyahu's outwardly triumphant visit to the White House, his third this year, was dogged by Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza and questions over how hard Trump will push for an end to the conflict. But in an exchange before reporters before the dinner got underway, both leaders expressed optimism that their success in Iran would mark a new era in the Middle East. "I think things are going to be really settled down a lot in the Middle East," Trump said. "And, they respect us and they respect Israel." Trump says Iran wants to restart talks, but Iran hasn't confirmed that Trump indicated anew that Iranian officials have reached out to the U.S. to schedule talks about Iran's nuclear program. Negotiations had started in April but were scuttled after Israel began its operations last month. "We have scheduled Iran talks, and they want to," Trump told reporters. "They want to talk." He said last week that the talks would restart soon. Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, sitting at the table with Trump, said the meeting would be soon, perhaps in a week. Tehran has yet to confirm that it has agreed to restart talks with the U.S. But Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian in an interview published Monday said the U.S. airstrikes so badly damaged his country's nuclear facilities that Iranian authorities still have not been able to access them to survey the destruction. Pezeshkian added in the interview with conservative American broadcaster Tucker Carlson that Iran would be willing to resume cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog but cannot yet commit to allowing its inspectors unfettered access to monitor the sites. "We stand ready to have such supervision," Pezeshkian said. "Unfortunately, as a result of the United States' unlawful attacks against our nuclear centers and installations, many of the pieces of equipment and the facilities there have been severely damaged." Pushing for a new ceasefire proposal in Gaza Trump has made clear that following last month's 12-day war between Israel and Iran he would like to see the Gaza conflict end soon. The meeting between Trump and Netanyahu may give new urgency to a U.S. ceasefire proposal being discussed by Israel and Hamas. White House officials are urging Israel and Hamas to quickly seal a new ceasefire agreement that would bring about a 60-day pause in the fighting, send aid flooding into Gaza and free at least some of the remaining 50 hostages held in the territory, 20 of whom are believed to be living. Leavitt announced Monday that Witkoff will travel later this week to Doha, Qatar, for ceasefire and hostage talks. But a sticking point is whether the ceasefire will end the war altogether. Hamas has said it is willing to free all the hostages in exchange for an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Netanyahu says the war will end once Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile — something it refuses to do. "We'll work out a peace with our Palestinian neighbors, those that don't want to destroy us," Netanyahu said. "We'll work out a peace in which our security, the sovereign power of security, always remains in our hands." Trump has been pressuring Israel and Hamas to wrap up the conflict, which has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, ravaged Gaza, deepened Israel's international isolation and made any resolution to the broader conflict between Israel and the Palestinians more distant than ever. But the precise details of the deal are still in flux. In the days before Netanyahu's visit, Trump seemed to downplay the chances for a breakthrough. Asked Friday how confident he was a ceasefire deal would come together, Trump told reporters, "I'm very optimistic — but you know, look, it changes from day to day." Trump and Netanyahu are more in sync than ever After Trump's decision to get involved in Israel's war in Iran, the two leaders are more in sync than ever. But that's not always been the case. As recently as Netanyahu's last visit to Washington in April, the tone was markedly different. Trump used the photo op with Netanyahu to announce that the U.S. was entering into negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program — appearing to catch the Israeli leader off guard and, at the time, slamming the brakes on any Israeli military plan. Trump, whose policies have largely aligned with Israel's own priorities, pledged last week to be "very firm" with Netanyahu on ending the war, without saying what that would entail. Pressure by Trump has worked on Netanyahu in the past, with a ceasefire deal having been reached right as the president was taking office again. Netanyahu has to balance the demands of his American ally with the far-right parties in his governing coalition, which hold the key to his political survival and oppose ending the war. But given the strong U.S. support in Israel's war against Iran, highlighted by joint airstrikes on a fortified underground Iranian nuclear site, Netanyahu may have a tough time saying no. Trump also may be expecting something in return for his recent calls for Netanyahu's corruption trial to be canceled — a significant interference in the domestic affairs of a sovereign state. "Trump thinks that Netanyahu owes him," said Eytan Gilboa, an expert on U.S.-Israel affairs at Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv. "And if Trump thinks that he needs to end the war In Gaza, then that is what he will need to do." ___ Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Ellen Knickmeyer, Matthew Lee, Lisa Mascaro and Darlene Superville contributed reporting.