Donald Trump urged Israel to shift focus from waging war against Hamas to what he called the ultimate prize of “peace and prosperity” in the Middle East region as he became just the fifth American president on Monday to address the Knesset.
In remarks to the Israeli parliament that were equal parts triumphant and rambling, he said the implementation of a ceasefire agreement and the return of the remaining living hostages marked the “historic dawn of a new Middle East” and an “incredible triumph for Israel and the world.”
He also publicly urged Israeli president Isaac Herzog to pardon Benjamin Netanyahu on the breach of trust, bribery, and fraud charges he faces.
However, Trump’s remarks concentrated on the peace deal.
“Generations from now, this will be remembered as the moment that everything began to change,” Trump said.
“As the dust settles, the smoke fades, the debris is removed, and the ashes clear from the air, the day breaks on a region transformed — and a beautiful and much brighter future appears suddenly within our reach.”
He also hailed the implementation of the peace deal he’d floated just weeks earlier alongside Netanyahu at the White House as not only the end of the two-year-old war, but the end of what he called “the age of terror and death” in favor of “the beginning of the age of faith and hope and of God”.
“It will be the golden age of Israel, and the golden age of the Middle East,” he added.
The president’s remarks followed a rapturous reception as he entered the Knesset chamber, with members chanting his name as well as the name of his roving peace envoy, Steve Witkoff. Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, Witkoff’s negotiating partner, also received a standing ovation.
He spoke just hours after the Israel Defense Forces confirmed that all 20 of the remaining living hostages taken by Hamas were back in Israeli custody and on Israeli soil, ending more than two years of captivity, and just days after Israel finished the years-long bombing campaign against Gaza that has claimed roughly 70,000 lives.
“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,” he said.
But he also cautioned the Israelis about renewing the military campaign that Netanyahu had insisted on carrying on despite international condemnation as the death toll mounted and famine spread in Gaza.
Trump said Israel had “won all that can be won by force of arms” and instead called on the Knesset to “translate these victories against terrorists on the battlefield into the ultimate prize of peace and prosperity for the entire Middle East”.
“Together, we have shown that Peace is not just a hope we can dream about, it is a reality we can build upon — day by day, person by person, nation by nation,” he said.
At the same time, the president also urged the people of Gaza to abandon the violent ways of Hamas, which had led to two years of war. He said it had been made “clear to everyone” in the Middle East that “decades of fomenting terrorism and extremism, jihadism and anti-Semitism” had “backfired completely and totally” by delivering “nothing but misery, suffering and failure” in Gaza — and Iran.
He said Gazans’ “total focus” going forward should be on “restoring the fundamentals of stability, safety, dignity, and economic development” to have “the better life their children deserve”.
“It is more obvious than ever that the productive and responsible nations of this region should not be enemies or adversaries; you should be partners, and eventually even friends,” he said.
Trump also said “virtually the entire region” of the Middle East had endorsed his plan, including provisions for Gaza to be “immediately demilitarized” with Hamas “disarmed” so Israel’s security “will no longer be threatened in any way, shape or form” in the future.
“Only by embracing the opportunities of this moment can we achieve our goal of ensuring that the horrors of recent years will never happen again,” he said.
Netanyahu, who spoke to the Knesset earlier after greeting Trump in Tel Aviv, said Trump’s plan had opened “the door to a historic expansion of peace in our region and beyond our region” and said he was “committed” to the peace plan alongside Trump.
“Mr President, you are committed to this peace. I am committed to this peace. And together, Mr President, we will achieve this peace,” he said while introducing the president, following Knesset speaker Amir Ohana and opposition leader Yair Lapid.
It remains to be seen whether Netanyahu’s commitment to the peace plan will hold.
The Israeli PM had accepted an invitation from Egypt’s president to attend a peace summit in Sharm el-Sheikh but cancelled the trip. It became known that Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas would attend as well, although Netanyahu’s office cited the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah as the reason for the reversal.
The “historic dawn” Trump spoke of comes after a long series of fits and starts at pushing through a ceasefire across two White House administrations.
For over two years, there were multiple attempts — brokered by the US, Qatar, and Egypt — to push through a comprehensive ceasefire deal to secure the release of all hostages and captives from Gaza and bring an end to the devastating war.
Two truces — at the end of 2023 and the start of 2025 — both ultimately collapsed, leading to a return of the unprecedented slaughter in Gaza and the deaths of additional hostages in captivity.
In September, in the wake of Israel’s bombing of Qatar — which threatened to drag the entire Middle East deeper into region-wide conflict — Trump proposed a 20-point peace plan he claimed would be the “breakthrough”.
If the truce holds, the remains of 350 slain Palestinians currently held by Israel will also be returned. In tandem, the deal includes the partial withdrawal of Israeli forces to the “yellow line”, which still leaves Israel in control of more than 50 per cent of the enclave, but has seen troops leave populated areas such as Gaza City.
This has allowed tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians to return to the devastated remains of their homes.
The plan also calls for a surge in badly needed aid to the tiny territory, where the UN-backed global hunger monitor has concluded that famine is already unfolding.
Early in the morning, before Trump’s address, Hamas began the transfer of the remaining 20 living hostages, who were seen being handed over to the Red Cross before being transferred into Israel and flown to hospitals to be reunited with their families.
Shortly afterwards, busloads of Palestinian detainees began leaving Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank, where they were reunited with their families in Ramallah.
If this section of the peace deal holds, negotiations for phase two will begin, which should include a further withdrawal of Israel forces, the disarmament of Hamas, a transitional authority of technocrats that will take over the running of Gaza, and an international “stabilization” force to run security.
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