Trump calls for Israel to ‘embrace its potential’ of ‘peace and prosperity’ as he takes victory lap in speech to Knesset

President 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 to address the Knesset on Monday.

In remarks to the Israeli legislature that were equal parts triumphant and rambling, replete with non sequiturs, attacks on his predecessors, and claims about the economic conditions in the United States, Trump 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.”

The president said towards the end of his remarks that Israeli President Isaac Herzog should pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the breach of trust, bribery, and fraud charges he faces.

However, Trump’s remarks centered 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. Ivanka Trump, his daughter and the wife of Witkoff’s negotiating partner, Jared Kushner, also received a standing ovation.

He spoke just hours after the Israeli 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.

Trump noted the importance of the ceasefire, telling the Knesset: “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.”

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.

He also offered a similar warning to Iran’s government, which he claimed wants “to make a deal” to end years of hostilities with Israel and the United States.

“They want to make a deal, and we're going to see if we can do something, because this is crazy, what's happening, and we're not going to have this anymore ... where's nothing that would do more good for this part of the world than for Iran's leaders to renounce terrorists, stop threatening their neighbors, quit funding their militant proxies, and finally recognize Israel's right to existence,” he said.

Netanyahu, who spoke to the Knesset earlier in the afternoon after meeting Trump upon his arrival 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.

Trump noted that he was due to join other world leaders for a peace summit in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, but he quipped that lengthy remarks by Ohana, Netanyahu, and Lapid had delayed his visit.

“ I'm quite late. You've kept me quite late between opposition leaders and Bibi's brilliant but very long speech,” he said. “I thought I was going to run up here, make a speech, and then head to Egypt. It didn't work out, though.”

He added that he’d be meeting with “the most powerful” and “richest” nations on earth to discuss peace plans further.

“Let's enjoy our lives, and let's rebuild Israel and make it stronger and bigger and better than it's ever been before,” he said.

It remains to be seen whether Netanyahu’s commitment to the peace plan will hold.

The Israeli leader had accepted an invitation from Egypt’s president to attend, but cancelled the trip. It became known that Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas would attend as well, though 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 U.S., 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”.

Although vague in parts, at the heart of the document is “Phase One”, which would see an immediate ceasefire and the release of the remaining 48 hostages and captives, both dead and alive, within a 72-hour window, which expired at midday on Monday.

In exchange, nearly 2,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, including 22 children, were to be released.

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.