U.S. President Donald Trump told Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, on Monday that “This is not only the end of a war, but the end of an age of terror and death, and the beginning of an age of faith and hope.”
Trump spoke as the twenty remaining living Israeli hostages returned to their families in emotional scenes.
Trump ended to an extended standing ovation, and a trumpet salute, accompanied by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Speaker of the Knesset Amir Ohana. Netanyahu — a member of the legislative body — took his seat in the audience, with Herzog and Ohana accompanying Trump to the podium. Several red “Make America Great Again” hats were visible in the gallery, among spectators.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 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.”
Ohana called Trump “a giant of Jewish history,” praising him for making sure “America First” was not “America alone.” Netanyahu thanked Trump for his support, saying he had nominated the president for the Israel Prize, which has never been given to a non-Israeli.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid noted that there had never been a “genocide” in Gaza, and that Israel’s liberal critics had been duped into supporting Islamic terror.
Trump began his own remarks by thanking God — the God of “Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob.”
“After so many years of unceasing war and endless danger … the sun rises on a Holy Land that is finally at peace.”
He added: “It will be the Golden Age of Israel, and the Golden Age of the Middle East.”
Trump thanked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “He’s not an easy guy to deal with, but that’s what makes him great,” he said. He also thanked the nations of the Arab and Muslim world for pressuring Hamas to accept the deal, and praised his negotiators, including U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
At that point, hecklers — unseen until that point — interrupted, apparently from Arab parties, some of whom have extremist positions, and which are yet elected freely in a democratic Israel. They were quickly ejected.
“That was very efficient,” Trump joked, as the Knesset erupted in chants of “Trump! Trump! Trump!”
The president thanked his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, joking again that he loved Israel so much that his daughter, Ivanka, converted to Judaism. He quipped that he had not expected that to happen.
He praised Kushner’s role in the Abraham Accords, saying he preferred the Hebrew pronunciation, “Avraham.”
Trump also praised Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the greatest to occupy his position throughout history. He recalled their 2016 rivalry: “He was tough, it was nasty. Who the hell thought this was going to happen, right, Marco?”
He also praised Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, noting that the new, restored title — as opposed to the title “Secretary of Defense” — was associated with victory.
He noted that he preferred to avoid war, but that if America were forced into war, it would fight without being “political correct.”
Trump also recalled the horror of October 7, and praised “the incredible skill and bravery of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).” He recalled “Operation Midnight Hammer,” and praised Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General John Daniel “Raizin” Caine, who stood up humbly to accept a standing ovation.
The president spoke about the attack on Iran — and drew applause when he suggested the prospect of a peace deal with Iran, saying that the leaders of that country might be amenable. “They want to survive,” he said.
Trump marveled at the universal joy at the end of the war. “They are dancing in the streets of countries that would have never danced in the streets about what’s happening today,” he said, hailing the prospects of peace.
“You’ve won,” Trump told the Knesset, “by force of arms.” Now, he said, it was time to transform military victory into peace and prosperity.
He joked that opposition leader Yair Lapid was “a nice man,” adding: “Now you can be a little nicer, Bibi, because you’re not at war anymore.”
He also teased Netanyahu and Ohana for making long speeches, saying he thought he would have had to say a few words and then leave immediately for Egypt, where he is meeting world leaders for a summit on postwar Gaza.
“I’ll be quite late. They might not be there by the time I get there.”
He placed the ceasefire in the context of his achievements across two administrations — the defeat of ISIS, and the Abraham Accords, and more.
“Peace is not just a hope — it’s a reality we can build upon.” Because of that, he said, the Middle East was ready “to embrace its historic potential.”
“Jihadism and antisemitism,” he said, had “backfired” on the societies that spawned them. They had served “not to weaken Israel but to annihilate the forces that did the most to foment this hatred.”
In contrast, Arab and Muslim nations that had embraced peace and the Abraham Accords had benefited and prospered as a result. “They get along with Israel, and they’re doing great.”
He praised Israel’s progress — “Think of what you’ve done; it’s incredible!” — and said that “the world is loving Israel again.”
He said that “the choice for Palestinians could not be more clear,” and that they had to reject “terror and violence.” He said he had met Palestinians in recent months “who want to see it happen, very much.”
He praised the “Board of Peace” in his peace plan for Gaza, saying that despite the fact that he was busy, he would devote the “unbelievable power and wealth” of the region to rebuilding Gaza in the aftermath of war.
He said that when Israel and other countries could set aside war, and apply their “genius” to building and to prosperity, the future would be unlimited. He praised the four Arab and Muslim countries who were the first to join the Abraham Accords — the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco — for their courage, and said that others should join the accords and achieve success, “beyond anybody’s wildest dreams.”
Trump took the unusual step of criticizing his predecessors, Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, for their approach. “There was a hatred toward Israel — it was an absolute hatred.” He said that Netanyahu had tried to convince Obama not to make a nuclear deal with Iran. “It was like talking to a wall,” Trump said, saying that he had been “proud” to end the deal — but said the hand of friendship was open “even to Iran.”
“We are ready when you are,” he said, welcoming the prospect of future peace negotiations with Iran.
He also drew laughs, and loud applause, when he suggested that President Isaac Herzog, Israel’s ceremonial head of state, grant a pardon to Netanyahu, who is still on trial for spurious charges of petty corruption.
Trump concluded by celebrating Jerusalem as the home to the world’s great religions, and praised Israel’s continued faith in God, throughout the generations. “That is why the people of Israel have never given up,” Trump said. “You want the promise of Zion, you want the promise of success and hope and love and God.”
He praised the U.S.-Israel relationship, saying that the two partners had achieved the impossible together — this week, bringing the hostages home.
“We are going to forge a future that is worthy of our heritage,” Trump said, concluding, “I love Israel — I’m with you all the way. You will be bigger, better, stronger, and more loving than ever before.
“God bless you, God bless the United States of America, and God bless the Middle East.”
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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