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U.S. President Donald Trump spoke on Monday to the Israeli parliament, saying that Iran wants to make a deal and that the Gaza ceasefire marks the beginning of "an era of faith and hope," while two lawmakers were forcibly removed for displaying "recognize Palestine" banners.
Trump addressed the Israeli parliament following the Gaza ceasefire as part of his official visit to Israel. Trump recalled U.S. strikes targeting Iran and said, "The setbacks mainly started when President Obama signed the Iran nuclear deal."
Trump said he was proud to terminate the nuclear agreement with Iran and argued that "there could be nothing better for this part of the world than Iran's leaders stopping financing their proxies and finally recognizing Israel's right to exist."
"(The Iranians) want to make a deal, and we will see if we can do something, because what is happening is crazy and we have no tolerance for it anymore," Trump said.
Trump said it is "a very exciting time" for Israel and the Middle East. "Bonds of friendship, cooperation and trade will stretch from Tel Aviv to Dubai, from Haifa to Beirut, from Jerusalem to Damascus, from Israel to Egypt, from Saudi Arabia to Qatar, from Pakistan to Indonesia, from Iraq to Syria, to Bahrain, from Türkiye to Jordan, from the United Arab Emirates to Amman, from Armenia to Azerbaijan," Trump said.
Trump thanked Arab and Muslim countries that pledged to help Gaza's safe reconstruction, adding, "There were those from many wealthy Arab countries who said they would put up large amounts of money to rebuild Gaza."
Trump later emphasized that Israel will always remain an important U.S. ally and said he approved billions of dollars in spending for the Israeli military. He claimed Israel is "safer, stronger and more respected" today than at any time in its history.
After an official ceremony at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Trump traveled to West Jerusalem and arrived at the Israeli parliament. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Trump's Middle East Special Representative Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner were also present in parliament.
Trump met with relatives of Israeli hostages at the parliament and received a prolonged standing ovation before speaking. In his address, Trump referred to the Gaza ceasefire and his 20-point peace plan, saying this is not just the end of a war but "the beginning of an era of faith and hope."
"The U.S. has the greatest and most powerful military in world history. The weapons we have are weapons no one can even imagine. We gave most of them to Israel," Trump said. He said Netanyahu called him asking for various weapons and that he gave Israel weapons whose names he had never heard before.
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During Trump's speech to the Israeli parliament, lawmakers Eymen Avde and Ofer Cassif displayed banners calling for recognition of Palestine and were forcibly removed.
Avde and Cassif held banners reading "Recognize Palestine" and chanted slogans. They were removed by physical intervention from those in the hall.
After Avde and Cassif were forcibly removed, Trump said: "That was very effective."
Palestinian-origin lawmaker Eymen Avde later shared a photo of himself holding the "Recognize Palestine" banner on social media platform X.
"They removed me from the hall for making a demand that the entire international community agrees on. This demand was for recognition of the Palestinian state. This simple fact must be accepted; there are two peoples here and both are going nowhere," Avde said.
During his speech, Trump called on Israeli President Isaac Herzog to pardon Netanyahu, who faces corruption cases.
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