Netanyahu gifts Trump golden pager in nod to Lebanon explosions
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gifted President Donald Trump a golden pager during their meeting at the White House this week, Netanyahu's office said.
Netanyahu's office released a photo of the gift Thursday, which references Israel's deadly explosive attacks in Lebanon and Syria in September that killed dozens of people and injured thousands more.
A plaque presented with the golden pager praised Trump as "our greatest friend and greatest ally."
Netanyahu also gifted Trump a regular pager during the visit.
After receiving the gift, Trump replied, "that was a great operation," an Israeli official told ABC News.
Amid the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, thousands of pagers exploded simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria on Sept. 17.
The covert Israeli military operation killed at least 37 people in Lebanon, including at least 12 civilians, and wounded over 2,900 people, according to Lebanese authorities.
The civilian deaths included an 8-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy, according to Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad.
At least 14 were also injured in targeted attacks on Hezbollah members in Syria, according to the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression, which also targeted civilians and led to the deaths of a number of martyrs and the injury of a large number with various wounds," Hezbollah said in a statement.
The United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon at the time called the operation an "extremely concerning escalation in what is an already unacceptably volatile context," in a statement released by the U.N. Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary General.
In a release about the gift, Netanyahu's office said the golden pager "symbolizes the Prime Minister’s decision that led to a turnaround in the war and the starting point for breaking the spirit" of Hezbollah.
"This strategic operation expresses the power, technological superiority and cunning of the State of Israel against its enemies," the statement added.
The White House has not commented on the gift.
