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

Christian Tybring-Gjedde, a right-wing member of the Norwegian parliament, has nominated Donald Trump for the 2021  Nobel Peace Prize for his role in brokering a peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

“For his merit, I think he has done more trying to create peace between nations than most other Peace Prize nominees,” Tybring-Gjedde told Fox News on Wednesday.

Under Nobel Peace Prize rules, any member of a national parliament can nominate a candidate for the award. According to the Nobel Peace Prize website, a host of other figures can also nominate a candidate for the prestigious accolade,  including university professors.

In his nomination letter to the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, Tybring-Gjedde, a four-term MP who also serves as chairman of the Norwegian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, claimed the Trump administration had played a pivotal role in peace talks between the two nations.

“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,” he wrote.

Tybring-Gjedde also cited the president's “key 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.”

It comes after a White House official on Tuesday announced the president will hold a signing ceremony on 15 September to mark the conclusion of the deal.

Under the agreement, which was reached on 13 August following months of talks, the Gulf State agreed to normal relations with Israel. In return, Israel said it continue with plans to suspend its annexation of the West Bank.

"I’m not a big Trump supporter," Tybring-Gjedde told Fox News of his decision to nominate the president, who is trailing Joe Biden badly in a host of major polls for November's election.

"The committee should look at the facts and judge him on the facts — not on the way he behaves sometimes. The people who have received the Peace Prize in recent years have done much less than Donald Trump," Tybring-Gjedde added.

Tybring-Gjedde also hit out at former president and prize winner Barack Obama, who he said had "done nothing" to merit receiving the award.  Mr Trump has repeatedly criticised Mr Obama's winning of the award.

Tybring-Gjedde previously nominated Mr Trump for the award in 2018 for his attempts to solve the North Korean nuclear tensions.