Former EU foreign policy chief slams Trump Nobel nomination

Europe's former top diplomat on Wednesday slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to nominate US President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, calling it a move by an "alleged war criminal" for his "largest arms supplier."

"An alleged war criminal wanted by the international justice proposes for the Nobel Peace Prize his largest supplier of weapons, and with which he is causing the greatest ethnic cleansing in the region since the end of World War II," Josep Borrell, former EU foreign policy chief, wrote on X.

Borrell's comments came shortly after Netanyahu handed Trump a formal letter of nomination during his Tuesday visit to the US, the Israeli premier's third trip to the country in six months.

The Israeli army has killed nearly 57,600 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023. The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave and led to food shortages and rampant disease.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

Borrell, who concluded his term as the EU's top diplomat last year, has been a vocal critic of Israel's attacks and previously called for a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.