In Historic Move, Netanyahu Breaks With Tradition in Bestowing Quite the Honor on Trump

I think it is undeniable at this point that Donald Trump has carved his name onto the list of the top five most consequential American presidents of our lifetimes - and perhaps in American history - just based on actions taken in 2025 alone.

His policies as it relates to illegal immigration, for instance, with mass deportations of criminal illegals as well as his aggressive push to once and for all end birthright citizenship (the Supreme Court will hear arguments for and against Trump's executive order on this issue next spring), are unlike anything we've seen in modern history. And he's only just getting started.

Another focus of President Trump's in the first year of his second term has been the peace deals he and his administration have negotiated, with eight deals being agreed to in eight months, including in the war between Israel and Hamas.

THE PRESIDENT OF PEACE: 8 wars ended in 8 months. pic.twitter.com/OiAH7YfkVu
— Department of State (@StateDept) October 14, 2025

Outside of TDS sufferers, I think few would argue against the assertion that the Israel-Hamas peace deal, where the remaining hostages in captivity were released, is the crowning achievement for Trump on the foreign policy front.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu certainly appears to agree with that sentiment, as evidenced by his announcement after a meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Monday that our nation's 47th president will be the next recipient of the Israel Prize:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country plans to award the Israel Prize to President Donald Trump, breaking with tradition to honor a non-Israeli and marking the first time the annual prize will go to another country's president.
Netanyahu announced Trump as a recipient of the Israel Prize ‒ the state of Israel's highest civilian honor for 72 years ‒ shortly after the two leaders met at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
[...]
"It's such a fitting thing, and it would honor us, obviously, if you could visit Israel for that occasion," Netanyahu said as he addressed reporters alongside Trump. "This reflects the overwhelming sentiment of Israelis across the spectrum. They appreciate what you've done to help Israel and help our common battle against the terrorists and those who would destroy our civilization."

Watch:

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu: “We decided to break a convention too, or create a new one, and that is to award the Israel Prize, which in almost our 80 years we've never awarded to a non-Israeli, and we're going to award it this year to President Trump.” pic.twitter.com/mrpj91HESl
— CSPAN (@cspan) December 29, 2025

As RedState previously reported, during the final cabinet meeting of the year in early December, Secretary of State Marco Rubio laid out how the deal wouldn't have happened without Trump's "direct interaction with the leaders that were involved in this decision-making":

"He achieved in Gaza -- and he does it not just because he hates war... but because he's the only leader in the world that can. No other leader in the world could have pulled off what happened in Gaza…That deal doesn't happen without the President's direct interaction with the leaders that were involved in this decision-making. And everyone said that deal couldn't hold, and then the President shepherded through the United Nations, of all places, to get a global coalition of countries to line up behind the peace deal, behind the Board of Peace. Every day is a challenge, but it's been driven directly by the President."

The one peace deal that remains elusive for Trump, however, is one between Ukraine and Russia, though after a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday, Trump stated that "we could be very close" to the war ending soon. Making that a reality before the year's end would be something else, wouldn't it?

Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.

Please help us continue to report on the administration’s peace through strength foreign policy and its successes. Join RedState VIP and use promo code MERRY74 to receive 74% off your membership.