US President Donald Trump used the Knesset rostrum on Monday to proclaim “the historic dawn of a new Middle East,” declaring an end to the Gaza war hours after Israel said the last 20 living hostages were back and buses of Palestinian prisoners rolled into Ramallah. In a speech that mixed sweeping promises, sharp political cues, and comic asides, the American president publicly asked President Isaac Herzog to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pressed Netanyahu and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid to work together, and praised Israel’s global contributions. “This is not only the end of a war. This is the end of an age of terror and death and the beginning of the age of faith and hope and of God,” he said. “Israel has won all that they can by force of arms. You’ve won.”
This is not only the end of a war. This is the end of an age of terror and death and the beginning of the age of faith and hope and of God.
Inside the chamber, a carefully staged session unfolded in sequence—Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, Netanyahu, Lapid, then the US president—while outside, families prepared for reunions and the first 72-hour burst of humanitarian deliveries under a US-backed truce.
Ohana Sets the Stage: Gratitude, History, and the Hostages’ Homecoming
Speaker Amir Ohana opened by warning that disturbers would be expelled, then shifted to a hymn of thanks. He ticked through the Jerusalem recognition, the embassy move, the Abraham Accords, and recent actions against Iran before elevating the guest of honor. “You, President Donald J. Trump, are a colossus who will be enshrined in the pantheon of history,” Ohana said. “Thousands of years from now, Mr. President, the Jewish people will remember you. We are a nation that remembers.”
He called the day “very exciting,” noting the removal of hostage photos that had hung in the gallery. Ohana pledged to mobilize counterparts abroad for the American leader’s Nobel bid: “There was not a single person on this planet who did more than you to advance peace. No one even came close … we will rally speakers and presidents of parliaments from around the world to submit your candidacy for the Nobel Peace Prize next year.”
Netanyahu’s Ledger: ‘Peace Through Strength,’ Costs Counted, Promise Asserted
Netanyahu followed with a long balance sheet—thanks for American backing and a recital of policies he says transformed Israel’s position, from the Golan to the 2020 plan and the Abraham Accords, to sanctions and strikes on Iran. Then the line that drew a standing ovation: “Donald Trump is the greatest friend that the state of Israel has ever had in the White House. No American president has ever done more for Israel.”
Casting the day’s releases as part of a broader blueprint, he said President Trump’s proposal “brings all our hostages home,” “ends the war by achieving all our objectives,” and “opens the door to an historic expansion of peace in our region, and beyond our region.” He saluted the fallen and wounded—“Our heroic soldiers fought like lions … the price of these victories has been heavy”—and singled out an American-Israeli veteran in the gallery: “Ari, you are the spirit of Israel.”
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Netanyahu argued that international opinion had turned against Israel before the US election “changed everything,” crediting joint pressure for the outcome. He reached for Ecclesiastes to frame the pivot: “To everything there is a season. … A time for peace and a time for war. The last two years have been a time of war. The coming years will hopefully be a time for peace.”
Lapid’s Appeal: Credit Given, A ‘New Path’ Urged
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid matched the day’s unity and aimed it forward. “Mr. President, you have saved the lives of our hostages,” he said. “You have saved more than one life, and each life is an entire world.” Then came his stark line: “This war is over.” Calling the absence of a Nobel “a grave mistake,” Lapid added, “They will have to award it to you next year.”
This war is over
He grounded Israel’s strength in its democracy—quoting the Declaration of Independence—and invited regional neighbors to join “the next wave of peace,” arguing the same vision that produced the Abraham Accords can deliver more. Politically, he signaled readiness for hard votes ahead: “The challenges ahead demand not only strength but a new vision. It’s time to take a new path.”
Trump’s Turn: Big Claims, Big Asks, and a Broad Canvas
President Trump opened with liturgy and relief—“a day of profound joy, of soaring hope”—and pronounced: “This is the historic dawn of a new Middle East.” He thanked Arab and Muslim partners “that came together to press Hamas to set the hostages free,” then moved to the heart of his case: Israel had won what war can win; now politics must cash the check. “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,” he said.
Give him a pardon
Then came the taboos, delivered with a showman’s shrug. Turning to Herzog, President Trump said: “Hey, I have an idea. … Why don’t you give him a pardon? Give him a pardon.” He praised the prime minister’s wartime leadership—“Whether we like it or not, this has been one of the greatest wartime presidents”—and, in the next breath, flattered the opposition. “He’s a very nice opposition leader,” the US president said of Lapid, adding to Netanyahu, “Now you can be a little bit nicer, Bibi, because you’re not at war anymore, Bibi.” The signal was unmistakable: Washington favors a governing alignment broad enough to carry the truce’s next phases—a national unity frame without saying the words.
He mixed strategic boasts with steady gratitude—crediting US operations for creating diplomatic space, describing American strikes that, he argued, took a “big cloud off of the Middle East,” and even floating a longer horizon with Tehran: “You know what would be great, if we could make a peace deal with them. … I think they want to. I think they’re tired.”
On rebuilding and regional economics, President Trump promised to marshal “the wealthiest and most powerful group of nations,” sketching a “Board of Peace” to channel funds. The prescription was pointed: “Instead of making weapons and missiles, the wealth of this region should flow to schools and medicine, industry and, frankly, the new hot thing, artificial intelligence.”
He closed by praising Israel’s character and contributions as a model for the region: “This city and this nation stand as living proof that a much brighter future for this entire region is truly within our grasp. … Israelis share our values, field one of the world’s most powerful militaries … and have one of the most innovative economies on Earth.”
Light and Heavy in the Same Hour
The session’s comic beats punctured the protocol without puncturing the message. When two far-left lawmakers unfurled protest signs, Ohana ejected them on the spot; the American president paused, pursed his lips, and cracked: “That was very efficient.” He joshed about speech length—“You’ve kept me quite late between opposition leaders and Bibi’s brilliant but very long speech”—and, in a flourish, told Netanyahu, “You’re going to be remembered for this. … Now let’s enjoy our lives and let’s rebuild Israel.”
The weight of the moment never left the room. All four speakers tied the liberation of captives to the day’s moral center; all cast the coming hours—safe returns, orderly transfers, quiet borders, aid moving north—as the first test of the truce’s promise. Ohana called it “a day that we all wished for.” Netanyahu promised continued vigilance alongside outreach: “As Prime Minister of Israel, I extend my hand to all those who seek peace with us.” Lapid recast the pivot as redemption: “Today, the redemption begins.” And President Trump, who opened with thanks to “the almighty God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,” told the chamber the world would remember the day “that everything began to change.”
What Comes Next
With the Knesset session wrapped, the next stop was diplomacy: a summit in Sharm el-Sheikh chaired by Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, where leaders were expected to lock down demobilization mechanics, aid corridors, and the “day after” in Gaza. The US message from the Knesset rostrum was clear—extend the calm, translate battlefield gains into political deliverables, and widen the Abraham Accords into a larger regional architecture.
The domestic message inside Israel was just as clear: bring everyone home, keep the guns silent, and assemble a governing coalition sturdy enough to hold the line. For a few hours on Monday, with escorts on the roads and helicopters in the air, a divided country heard its leaders praise each other by name and point in the same direction. Whether that unity lasts beyond the first round of reunions will decide whether this “historic dawn” becomes a lasting day.