Months after clandestine attack targeting Hezbollah, Netanyahu’s golden pager gift for ‘greatest friend’ Trump

In what is said to be an apparent reference to Israel’s deadly attack against Hezbollah in Lebanon last year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has presented US President Donald Trump with a golden pager while visiting Washington DC.

The Times of Israel quoted the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Thursday, confirming that the gift “symbolises the Prime Minister’s decision that led to a turning point in the war and the starting point for breaking the will of the terrorist organization Hezbollah.” The operation, the PMO added, “Expresses the power, technological superiority, and cunning of Israel against its enemies.”

Israeli media said Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, also gave Trump a regular pager. The gift was seen as a nod to Israel’s deadly operation against Hezbollah last September, during which thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies detonated simultaneously across Lebanon. The explosions killed at least 37 people, including children, and injured thousands.

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Affixed to wooden base with a golden plaque, Bibi gifted Trump a ‘Golden Pager’ which read ‘To…Greatest Friend, Greatest Ally…’.

An Israeli official told the Associated Press that upon receiving the gift, Trump called it a “great operation.”

The golden pager, mounted on a wooden trophy-style display, featured text reading “Press with both hands” and a placard that said: “To President Donald J. Trump, our greatest friend and greatest ally. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”

In return, Trump gifted Netanyahu a signed photograph of the two of them with the inscription: “To Bibi, A great leader!” according to a CNN report citing an Instagram post by Netanyahu’s son, Yair.

Netanyahu met with Trump on Tuesday on a visit which was quickly overshadowed by Trump’s controversial suggestion that the US should “take over” Gaza and relocate the Palestinian population elsewhere.