Sheikh Mohamed and Netanyahu nominated for Nobel Peace Prize after Abraham Accord

Nomination made by former winner Lord David Trimble, the Israeli leader's office said

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for the Abraham Accords, the Israeli leader's office said on Tuesday night.

Mr Netanyahu’s office said the nomination was made by past winner Lord David Trimble, former first minister of Northern Ireland.

Mr Trimble was awarded the Nobel prize in 1998 with Irish nationalist politician John Hume for efforts to end the long conflict in Northern Ireland.

While the awarding committee do not disclose nominees for decades, Mr Netanyahu’s office said that as a submission from a former winner the judges will discuss the proposal.

Past winners, leaders of organisations that have won, members of national assemblies, governments and international courts of law, university chancellors, professors of social science, history, philosophy, law and theology, leaders of peace research institutes and institutes of foreign affairs can all submit names for consideration.

US President Donald Trump brokered the September agreement between the UAE and Israel to move towards normalising relations, making the UAE the first Arab state to do so in more than two decades. The announcement in August was followed by Bahrain who also begin formalising relations with Israel.

Ministers from both Gulf States met Mr Netanyahu and Mr Trump at a ceremony on September 15 on the White House lawn to sign the Abraham Accord.

Arab and Israeli leaders previously won two Nobel Peace Prizes for signing deals that aimed to help end the long-running conflict.

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In 1978, Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin were given the prize for the Israeli-Egypt peace deal, formalised in 1979.

The peace deal with Egypt was the first with an Arab state.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and foreign minister Shimon Peres also won for the 1993 Oslo Accord.

The winner of the 2021 Nobel prize will be announced in October next year.

This year's recipient was the World Food Programme for fighting global hunger.

The UN organisation was lauded "for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict".