(JERUSALEM) — In a speech to Israel’s parliament on a day when the country’s living 20 hostages were released as part a ceasefire agreement he helped broker, President Donald Trump told the Knesset, “This is the historic dawn of a new Middle East.”
“This will be the remembered as the moment that everything began to change,” Trump said in an hourlong address in which he touted his administration’s role in the deal and said it marked the end of a “painful nightmare” for Israel and Palestinians.
The hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, were returned to Israel on Monday, officials said, and Palestinian prisoners were freed in the first phase of the ceasefire deal aimed at putting a permanent end to the fighting.
“This long and difficult war has now ended,” Trump declared, though challenges remain in ensuring a lasting peace in Gaza and questions abound about what comes next, especially given the ultimate failure of a six-week hostage-for-prisoners ceasefire in January.
In pointed remarks seemingly aimed at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu –who has not gone as far in saying the conflict has come to a close — Trump said, “Israel, with our help, has won all that they can by force of arms. You’ve won.”
“Now it’s time to translate these victories against terrorists on the battlefield into the ultimate prize of peace and prosperity for the entire Middle East. It’s about time you were able to enjoy the fruits of your labor,” Trump added.
In a sign of the warm welcome he was receiving, many in the audience were wearing MAGA-style hats that read “Trump The Peace President.”
“After so many years of unceasing war and endless danger, today, the skies are calm, the guns are silent, the sirens are still, and the sun rises on a Holy Land that is finally at peace,” Trump said. “A land and a region that will live. God willing, in peace for all eternity.”
Trump’s speech was briefly disrupted when Ayman Udah, an Arab-Israeli from Israel’s Hadash party, and his colleague, Ofir Kassif, a Jewish Israeli, shouted out and raised a banner that read “genocide.” They were swiftly ejected.
But overall, Trump received a friendly reception as he was introduced by the speaker of Israel’s parliament as the “best friend Israel has ever had” in the White House — a sentiment echoed by Netanyahu.
“No American president has ever done more for Israel, and as I said in Washington, it ain’t even close. It’s not really a match,” Netanyahu said.
Trump directly criticized his Oval Office predecessors, former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, accusing them of a “hatred toward Israel” and saying he was proud to withdraw the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal brokered during Obama’s administration.
The Israeli prime minister said when Trump was elected, “overnight, everything changed.”
“Mr. President, today, we welcome you here to thank you for your pivotal leadership and putting forward a proposal that got the backing of almost the entire world, a proposal that brings all our hostages home, a proposal that ends the war by achieving all our objectives, a proposal that opens the door to an historic expansion of peace in our region and beyond our region,” Netanyahu said. “Mr. President, you are committed to this peace. I am committed to this peace. And together, Mr. President, we will achieve this peace.”
With Trump looking on smiling, Netanyahu announced he submitted Trump’s nomination to be the first non-Israeli recipient of the Israel Prize, Israel’s highest award. Earlier, the speaker of Israel’s parliament said he will be nominating Trump for next year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
“As to that other prize, just a question time, you’ll get it,” Netanyahu said.
In a surprise moment, Trump asked Israel President Isaac Herzog to pardon Netanyahu — prompting a long round of applause from the audience in the parliament. Netanyahu is currently on trial facing bribery, fraud, and breach of trust charges in multiple cases.
“That was not in the speech, as you probably know, but I happen to like this gentleman right over here, and it just seems to make so much sense,” Trump said.
Trump also revealed how he said he got Netanyahu to agree to the ceasefire agreement, saying he advised the prime minister it would be better for him to do so than to continue Israel’s military campaign.
“If you would have gone on for three, four more years, keep fighting, fighting, fighting. It was — it was getting bad. It was getting heated. The timing of this is brilliant,” Trump said. “And I said, ‘Bibi, you’re going to be remembered for this far more than if you kept this thing going, going, going, kill, kill, kill. It would be not — it would not be the same.’ And I just want to congratulate you for having the courage to say, ‘That’s it. We’ve won, and now let’s enjoy our lives, and let’s rebuild Israel and make it stronger and bigger and better than it’s ever been before.'”
More than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. More than 1,200 people were killed in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise attack, and about 250 people were kidnapped, according to Israeli officials. The fate of some hostages remained unclear.
Attending Trump’s Knesset speech was his daughter Ivanka Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, the latter having been involved in negotiations, as well as White House special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.
Various Trump administration officials were also in the audience, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and more.
The White House posted a short video of Trump and Netanyahu meeting with the families of hostages before his address.
After the speech, Trump headed to an international “peace summit” in Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt where he was to sign an agreement on what’s next for Gaza with more than 20 others leaders from around the world.
Netanyahu will not attend the summit, despite being invited by Trump.
“The Prime Minister thanked President Trump for his invitation, but said that he would not be able to participate due to the proximity of the holiday,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement. “The Prime Minister thanked President Trump for his efforts to expand the circle of peace — peace through strength.”
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