In a dramatic twist to the ongoing Israel-Gaza crisis

Professor Anat Alon-Beck, an Israeli-American legal scholar, has emerged as one of the few individuals to have formally nominated Donald Trump for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize — and crucially, to have done so before the January 31 deadline.

The act and the motive

Alon-Beck, serving as a tenured law professor at Case Western Reserve University and a visiting scholar at Harvard, submitted Trump’s nomination in her capacity as a university professor — one of the categories authorized to propose nominees. She insists the decision was guided by conviction, not partisanship: “I submitted his name … because I wanted there to be an incentive to bring the hostages home.”

Her submission cites his role in the hostage exchange framework negotiated in January 2025 and frames the return of captives as a moral, humanitarian priority.She argues that public letters—even from national leaders—are symbolic, but meeting the Nobel Committee’s procedural criteria is what truly matters.

Other nominations — and limits

While several supporters have publicly touted Trump’s candidacy, only nominations from eligible individuals received before the deadline count.Among them, Representative Claudia Tenney of New York also nominated Trump, citing his role in the Abraham Accords. However, gestures like Netanyahu’s endorsement letter, though politically resonant, fall outside the Committee’s formal process.

Realistic prospects