Netanyahu says Trump to become first non-Israeli to receive Israel Prize

Breaking with decades of tradition, Israel will award President Donald Trump the Israel Prize, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday after meeting him at Mar-a-Lago.

Netanyahu and Trump spoke to reporters following their meeting, during which the Israeli leader announced plans to award Trump the Israel Prize – the nation’s highest cultural honor.

“We decided to break a convention, 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,” Netanyahu said. “This was announced formally over lunch by our minister of education, who is responsible for the Israel Prize.