President Donald Trump’s speech to the Israeli parliament was interrupted by screaming protesters on Monday morning.
Trump addressed Israel’s Knesset after all the living hostages in Gaza were released as part of the historic peace deal.
During his speech, Arab Knesset members Ayman Odeh and Ofer Cassif held up a sign that read, ‘genocide.’
They were quickly removed from the room as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized.
‘That was very efficient,’ Trump said after the protesters were escorted out.
Trump was in Israel on Monday to celebrate the U.S.-brokered ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas before continuing on to Egypt for a key summit that he hopes will solidify an end to the war and pave the way for a more durable peace in the Middle East.
President Donald Trump’s speech to the Israeli parliament was interrupted by screaming protesters on Monday morning
Knesset members Ayman Odeh and Ofer Cassif held up a sign that read, ‘genocide’
Security officials remove a Knesset member who interrupted President Donald Trump speech to the Knesset
Trump addressed Israel’s Knesset after all the living hostages in Gaza were released as part of the historic peace deal
The president took the podium after an address to the Israeli parliament by Netanyahu, which concluded with Trump getting up from his seat and shaking hands with the prime minister, before embracing him.
That embrace prompted chants of ‘Trump! Trump! Trump!’
Trump later started his own remarks by saying, ‘It’s a great honor’ and calling the Knesset a ‘nice place.’
‘This is a great day, this is a whole new beginning,’ Trump told reporters after arriving at the Knesset. ‘And I think there’s never been an event like it, I’ve never seen anything like it.’
He received several standing ovations from Israeli lawmakers as he prepared to give a speech after meeting with the families of hostages. He may also stop at the Sheba Medical Center to meet some of the hostages themselves.
Twenty hostages were released Monday as part of an agreement intended to end the conflict that began with the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas-led militants. By early afternoon, Israel also began to release Palestinian prisoners.
President Donald Trump signed a welcome book before speaking to Israel’s Knesset. ‘This is my great honor – a great and beautiful day. A new beginning,’ the president wrote as Israeli hostages were released from Gaza
Ivanka Trump arrives before President Donald Trump speaks to the Knesset
Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Netanyahu greeted Trump on the tarmac as a military band played. In Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, the site of continuous demonstrations during two years of war, the crowd cheered for Trump.
Amir Ohana, the Knesset speaker, welcomed Trump to the parliament by saying ‘we’ve been longing for this day.’ Some people in the gallery wore red hats that said ‘Trump, The Peace President.’
