Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump to Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, thanking him for his support in the war and in forging the hostage deal to end the war in Gaza.
Netanyahu, speaking largely in English, thanked Trump effusively for his support for Israel over the years — a “partial list” that included his role in the hostage deal; for recognizing Israeli rights in Judea and Samaria, for the Abraham Accords, and for opposing Iran’s nuclear ambitions and attacking Iran’s nuclear sites. Netanyahu added: “Donald Trump is the greatest friend that Israel has ever had in the White House.”
Netanyahu praised Trump’s peace plan for Gaza, calling it “a proposal that ends the war by achieving all our objectives, a proposal that opens the door to an expansion of peace in our region, and beyond our region.”
He thanked Trump for constantly reminding world leaders: “Remember October 7.” He recalled the horrors of the Hamas terror attack — the brutal murders of civilians, and the taking of babies as hostages to Gaza.
“Our heroic soldiers fought like lions. They fought on the front lines between civilization and barbarism,” he said. He noted that they had destroyed Israel’s enemies — in Gaza, in Lebanon, in Syria, and beyond.
“But the price of these victories have been heavy. Nearly 2,000 of Israel’s finest were lost. Nearly half [915] in battle. … Their love and laughter, their promise and potential, were lost forever,” Netanyahu said somberly.
“I know the depth of your pain. I know the inconsolable grief that will accompany you for the rest of your lives. The State of Israel bows its head in eternal gratitude to our nation’s heroes,” Netanyahu declared.
He honored Americans who had fought in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Gaza, including American-Israelis who had fought in the war, such as Ari Spitz, who lost both legs and a hand in combat.
Netanyahu also praised Sabine Taasa, watching from Los Angeles. Taasa lost her husband, Gil, and he eldest son, Or, in the Hamas terror attack. Gil sheltered his two smaller boys as he was killed by a Hamas terrorist who threw a grenade into the family’s backyard bomb shelter. In a scene that was initially restricted from public circulation for its brutality, one of the boys, wounded and shocked, lamented having survived. Netanyahu praised Taasa for bringing her family’s story around the world, and for advocating for peace for Israel.
He spoke about the pain endured by the families of the hostages, and about the difficulty of resisting diplomatic pressure from those leaders abroad — who, he said, had bought into the Hamas propaganda.
“Just at that point of maximum diplomatic pressure on Israel, a man named Donald J. Trump was elected President of the United States. And, ladies and gentlemen, overnight — overnight! — everything changed.”
He noted the hostage deal that took place after Trump’s election, and led to the present deal.
“You succeeded in doing something that no one believed was possible. You brought most of the Arab world — you brought most of the world! — behind your proposal to free the hostages and end the war,” he said, praising Trump and his aides, including Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
“I’ve never seen anyone move the world so quickly, so decisively, and so resolutely, as our friend, President Donald J. Trump,” Netanyahu said, to applause. “With our military pressure, and President Trump’s global leadership, we achieved this historic moment.”
He cited the Book of Ecclesiastes, read by Jews worldwide on the ongoing Sukkot holiday, citing chapter 3: as the past two years had been a time for war, the future would be a time for peace — “peace for Israel, and peace outside of Israel.”
“I look forward to continuing to march with you on the path we paved together in the Abraham Accords,” he said, hoping for future peace treaties with the Arab and Muslim world.
“I believe that with President Trump’s leadership, this will happen a lot faster than people think.”
He said he had nominated Trump to be the first non-Israeli to receive the Israel Prize, the nation’s highest honor.
“May God bless the Covenant between our two Promised Lands,” Netanyahu concluded.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid — who was nearly preempted by Trump — also spoke, citing the Talmud’s dictum that whoever saves one life, saves the entire world. “You saved the lives of our hostages,” he said.
Lapid emphasized that foreign critics who attacked Israel had been deceived. “There was no genocide,” he said. “They played with your minds, selling you that supporting Islamic terror is somehow a liberal value.”
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Zionist Conspiracy Wants You, now available on Amazon. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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