October 13, 2025

Source: https://www.youtube.com/live/Jh-NE0hQyk4?si=9g9lILAubHN66Icj&t=9192

After a welcome from Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana and addresses by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Yair Lapid, President Donald Trump addressed the Knesset. He was the fourth U.S. president to do so, after Jimmy Carter in 1979, Bill Clinton in 1994 and George W. Bush in 2008. Carter and Clinton spoke to the Knesset before and after an Israeli treaty signing with an Arab state, Egypt and Jordan respectively; Bush’s remarks affirmed the deep bond in the U.S.-Israel relationship. Trump’s speech came on the occasion of an agreement to end a two-year war but not anything approaching a peace treaty.

Trump cast Israel’s wartime performance as decisive, disciplined and ultimately victorious. His speech was as aspirational as it was a victory lap for his personal accomplishments and a predictor for agreements to come between Israel and her neighbors. He had harsh words for Hamas and praise for those who participated in achieving the hostage release and setting the stage for Gaza’s reconstruction. Given Trump’s visit to the Middle East but not Israel in May, his deep engagement in this ceasefire, and his assertive U.S. protection of Qatar and other Gulf states, the president appears to be aiming to secure more diplomatic, political and economic transactions in the region as he moves further into his second administration.

Both this speech and remarks Trump made later the same day in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, left many details of the Hamas-Israel ceasefire’s implementation unclear. Details remained to be defined in an environment where Hamas still was committed to keeping its arms and Israeli decision-makers still were seething from the Hamas-launched war’s death and destruction. Among the unknowns were the ceasefire’s enforcement, the fate of Hamas’ rank and file, the footprint and timing of Israeli security in Gaza, and any unfolding Gaza-West Bank linkage. The key to the ceasefire implementation seemed to be the sequencing: hostage bodies’ return, disarmament, pace and areas of reconstruction, and types and pace of governance with enforcement.

Trump’s speech was positive and congratulatory. He praised the “bravery and incredible skill of the Israeli Defense Forces,” argued that Israel had “won all that they can by force of arms,” and said the country is now “safer, stronger and more respected” than at any time in its history. He credited close U.S.-Israel military coordination and boasted that America supplied Israel with “the best” weapons and that the IDF “used them very well.” He wove those battlefield judgments into a larger narrative of regional deterrence, highlighting the strikes on Iran in June: Israel’s Operation Rising Lion and the U.S. Operation Midnight Hammer, in which B-2 bombers “obliterated” key nuclear facilities. He said those actions removed a “dark cloud” and made Arab buy-in to the ceasefire possible. He added that Hezbollah’s “dagger” in Lebanon had been “totally shattered” and framed the ceasefire as the moment to translate military gains into “the ultimate prize of peace and prosperity.”

His thanks were personal, political, regional and communal. He singled out Netanyahu, “the nations of the Arab and Muslim world that came together to press Hamas to set the hostages free,” and a cast of American negotiators and leaders: Steve Witkoff for his back-channel negotiating stamina; Jared Kushner for architecting the Abraham Accords; Marco Rubio, who he predicted will go down in U.S. history as “the greatest secretary of state”; Pete Hegseth, Trump’s “secretary of war”; Gen. Dan “Raizin” Caine as the model of a results-first commander; and Miriam Adelson for her long-standing political and financial commitments to Israel. Trump noted his own contributions to Israel, from moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem to terminating the Iran nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA) and damaging Iran’s nuclear program with military strikes.

Trump explicitly linked the ceasefire to broader American objectives: consolidating a “new Middle East” built on “peace through strength”; expanding the Abraham Accords “quickly, no games”; and converting a coalition forged in war into an architecture for commerce, technology and regional integration. He declared a “historic dawn of the Middle East, not only the end of war, but the end of an age of terror and death and the beginning of the age of faith and hope and God.” He told the Israeli lawmakers that Israel had no more to achieve on the battlefield and must work toward peace and said he would deliver a similar message to Arab and Muslim regional leaders in Sharm el-Sheikh.

He portrayed the 2020 Abraham Accords as moral and transactional: Countries that joined “benefit unbelievably financially,” and the region should “build infrastructure to weave your commerce closer together” and channel wealth to “schools and medicine, industry, and … artificial intelligence” rather than to missiles. He repeatedly urged additional Arab and Muslim states to “join up” and insisted that after the defeat of “the forces of chaos, terror and ruin,” the world “is loving Israel again,” making the timing “brilliant” for diplomacy.

On Gaza’s future, Trump described an immediate sequence and a strategic horizon. In the short term, he said the plan “virtually” endorsed across the region requires Gaza’s “immediate” demilitarization, Hamas’ disarmament, and the end of any threat to Israel “in any way, shape or form.” He argued that “productive and responsible nations” should become partners, not adversaries, and said a Board of Peace chaired by himself will coordinate the postwar recovery. He pledged U.S. help while emphasizing that wealthy Arab states had committed “tremendous amounts of money” for Gaza.

For Palestinian society, he framed a stark choice: “Turn forever from the path of terror and violence,” “exile the wicked forces of hate,” and focus on “stability, safety, dignity and economic development” so children can have a better life. The message fused conditionality with promise: demilitarization and security for Israel in exchange for massive reconstruction, regional investment and economic opportunity for Gaza.

His words for Hamas were stern and transactional. He grounded the moment in the memory of October 7 — “the worst slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust” — and renewed the vows “never forget and never again.” He made full compliance the test of Hamas’ future, saying the U.S.-forged regional coalition “pressed Hamas to set the hostages free.” He repeatedly spoke in the present tense about all living hostages being back while making clear the agreement requires the bodies of the rest to come home and Hamas to disarm. He depicted Hamas among the “enemies of civilization” now “weakened, isolated and totally defeated” and warned that the era of “jihadism and antisemitism” has “backfired completely,” delivering only “misery, suffering, failure and death.”

Compliance with the peace plan means disarmament, demilitarization, an end to threats against Israel and the completion of hostage releases under a watchful regional and American umbrella. Non-compliance, he implied, would forfeit reconstruction and invite renewed, overwhelming force.

Throughout, Trump threaded assessment with aspiration: Israel “used” American support well and “won”; the ceasefire ended not just a war, but also “an age of terror and death”; and the Abraham Accords, revived and widened, are the vehicle to convert battlefield victories into enduring peace. The United States, he said, will remain Israel’s best friend, midwife Gaza’s reconstruction through a wealthy Arab consortium, and harness the region’s new coalition so that “peace and respect can flourish” from Jerusalem outward. In his telling, deterrence delivered diplomacy, and diplomacy must now lock in security, return every last hostage body, disarm Hamas, and launch a reconstruction that binds Israel to its neighbors in a “golden age” of strategic partnership and shared prosperity.

— Ken Stein, October 31, 2025

Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana: Mr. President, you stand before the people of Israel not as another American president, but as a giant of Jewish history, one for whom we must look back two and a half millennia into the mists of time to find a parallel: Cyrus the Great. You, President Donald J. Trump, are a colossus who will be enshrined in the pantheon of history. Thousands of years from now, Mr. President, the Jewish people will remember you. We are a nation that remembers.

Far from being a local struggle, what we are witnessing is a global struggle, a global battle, between the forces of extremism, radicalism and fundamentalism and those of freedom, liberty and democracy. What the world needs now is not appeasers who feed the crocodile in the hope that they will be eaten last, like the kind we have seen recently at the U.N. General Assembly. And by the way, President Trump, your team has checked the Teleprompter. It is working beautifully. What the world needs — what the world needs now are more leaders who are brave, resolute, strong and bold. The world needs more Trumps.

President Trump, you are the president of peace. There was not a single person on this planet who did more than you to advance peace. No one even came close. Your election to the presidency marked a turning point, not only for the United States, but for the entire world. Through your strength of character and unwavering resolve, you brought an end to bloody conflicts in no fewer than eight regions across the globe.

In less than nine months, you became one of the most consequential presidents in history. You saved countless lives that would’ve been lost without your leadership. And as our sages teach, whoever saves one life, it is as though he has saved an entire world. You have proven that true peace is achieved through strength, and that only those who are prepared to use force in the present can prevent the need to use it in the future.

Mr. President, you more than any other individual are deserving of the highest recognition for your efforts in promoting peace. Therefore, I hereby announce that together with our good friend Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, we will rally speakers and presidents of parliaments from around the world to submit your candidacy for the Nobel Prize, Nobel Peace Prize next year. There is no one more deserving than you, President Trump. No one. …

And may God bless you, President Trump. May God bless the United States of America, and may God bless the State of Israel. Todah rabbah [thank you very much] and chag sameach [happy holiday]. …

President Donald Trump: Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much, everybody. It’s a great honor. Nice place, very nice.

Mr. President, Mr. Prime Minister, Mr. Speaker, esteemed members of the Knesset and cherished citizens of Israel, we gather on a day of profound joy, of soaring hope, of renewed faith and, above all, a day to give our deepest thanks to the Almighty God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

After two harrowing years in darkness and captivity, 20 courageous hostages are returning to the glorious embrace of their families, and it is glorious; 28 more precious loved ones are coming home at last to rest in this sacred soil for all of time. And 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, a land and a region that will live, God willing, in peace for all eternity.

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. It’s the start of a grand concord and lasting harmony for Israel and all the nations of what will soon be a truly magnificent region. I believe that so strongly. This is the historic dawn of a new Middle East. I want to express my gratitude to a man of exceptional courage and patriotism whose partnership did so much to make this momentous day possible. You know who I’m talking about. There’s only one: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Bibi, please stand up.

And he is not easy, I want to tell you. He is not the easiest guy to deal with, but that’s what makes him great. That’s what makes him great. Thank you very much, Bibi. Great job.

And let me also convey my tremendous appreciation for all of the nations of the Arab and Muslim world that came together to press Hamas to set the hostages free and to send them home. We had a lot of help. We had a lot of help from a lot of people that you wouldn’t suspect, and I want to thank them very much for that. It’s an incredible triumph for Israel and the world to have all of these nations working together as partners in peace, and it’s pretty unusual for you to see that, but it happened in this case. This was a very unusual point in time, a brilliant point in time. Generations from now, this will be remembered as the moment that everything began to change and change very much for the better. Like the USA right now, it will be the golden age of Israel and the golden age of the Middle East. It’s going to work together.

I’d like to thank several great American patriots for their invaluable help in getting something done that almost everyone thought was absolutely impossible. We were wasting our time. So many people said, “You’re just wasting your time.” But we weren’t because we had talented people working with us, and we had people that love your country and frankly people that love the region. They love the Middle East.

I want to thank my friend Steve Witkoff. You know Steve was chosen by me. He never did this before, but I knew him as a few things. He was a great businessman, but I know a lot of great businessmen, to be honest with you. He had tremendous negotiating skills, but I know a lot of people that negotiate pretty well, although it is an art. But there are people that can negotiate pretty well, but most importantly with Steve, he’s just a great guy. Everybody loved him. Everybody. I mean, I know some negotiators that are so good, but you wouldn’t have had peace in the Middle East. You’d be, we’d be in World War IIII right now with some of these guys. Everybody loves Steve, and they respect him, and they somehow can relate to him. I’ve known him for many years, and I’ve seen it over and over again.

[Trump is interrupted by two Knesset members from Hadash-Taal, Ofer Kassif and Ayman Odeh, who are escorted from the parliamentary chamber.]

Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana: Sorry for that, Mr. President.

President Trump: That was very efficient.

So back to Steve. But I tell one story because he was so involved, and then we called in Jared. We called him. We need that brain on occasion. We gotta get Jared in here. We gotta get a certain group of people, but Steve started this all by himself. I call him Henry Kissinger who doesn’t leak. OK? Henry is a big leaker. He leaked. Steve doesn’t leak. Steve just wants to get the job done. He wants to do what’s right, but I’ll give you just a quick story because, as you know, he’s working on the war with Russia and Ukraine, a war that would have never happened if I were president. A shame: 7,000 young soldiers a week are being killed, more than that this last week. It’s a shame that it ever happened, but it did happen. And we won the race, and I took over this horrible war that’s been raging, and I thought it would be easily settled. I thought it was a hell of a lot easier than doing what we just did very successfully with Israel and a lot of other people. But this came first, and we’ll get that one.

But I set up a meeting for him to meet with President Putin, thinking it would be a 15- or 20-minute meeting. Steve had no idea about Russia, had no idea about Putin too much, didn’t know too much about politics, wasn’t that interested. He was really good at real estate, but he had that quality that I was looking for, and I didn’t see it around in too many ways. And I set up the meeting with Putin, and I called. I said, “Is Steve finished yet?” That was about a half an hour into the meeting. “No, sir, he’s not. He’s still inside.” This is in Moscow. I said, “Well, how’s he doing?” “I don’t know, sir. He’s still inside.” I called up an hour later. “Let me speak to Steve.” “Sir, he’s still with Putin. He’s with President Putin.” I said, “Wow, that’s a long meeting, one hour.” I called up an hour later; he was still with Putin. Three hours later he was still with Putin. Four hours later he started to get the word that he was going to be coming out soon, and in five hours he came out. I said, “What the hell were you talking about for five hours?” And he said, “Just a lot of interesting things. We just, we’re talking about a lot of interesting things,” including what he went in there for, but you can’t talk about it for five. You can talk about it for a certain period of time, and you know what you’re getting.

But that’s a talent. That’s a talent where you can do that. Most people I’d send in, No. 1, they wouldn’t be accepted. No. 2, if they were, the meeting would last five minutes, and that’s what happens with Steve. Everybody loves him. They love him on this side. They love him on the other side. And he really is, he’s a great negotiator because he’s a great guy. So thank you very much, Steve.

And let me also give a very special thanks to someone who truly loves Israel. In fact, loves it so much that my daughter converted. My daughter converted. I didn’t know this was going to happen. And Ivanka’s here. And, Bibi, you do know this was not in the cards for me. You understand that. And she is so happy, and they are so happy. At least I think they’re happy. If they’re not, we have a big story, right? Nah, they have a great marriage, and they get along great. They’re best friends. They have a very special relationship, but Jared has been so helpful. He really did something very special. He established the Abraham Accords with a group of very wonderful people. I like calling it the Avraham Accords because people that — right? — Avraham. It’s so cool. It’s so much sort of nicer, you know, the Abraham vs. the Avraham. I just don’t want to sound too sanctimonious when I do it, so, you know, I sort of split it up. This way we keep everybody happy.

But we have some very great talent, and they have no excuses for anything that’s taken place because we had some unbelievably good people working on this, and then you’re going to add a man named Marco Rubio, who is also here. That’s right. And I have a prediction that Marco will go down, I mean this, as the greatest secretary of state in the history of the United States. I believe that. I believe it. And he and I, you know, we really fought it out. You remember, he was tough. He was nasty. Who the hell thought this was going to happen, Marco, right? And now I’m saying he’s going to go down as the greatest. He will. He was always, he was always smart and sharp, and people respect him.

And then we have somebody who’s young but an unbelievable leader. I saw it a long time ago, and he’s turned out to be even better, even better than we thought, right, Susie? I think even better, and that’s Pete Hegseth, who is our secretary of war, formerly secretary of defense. And as you know, we decisively won World War I. We decisively won World War II. Decisively. And everything in between and everything before it, we won everything. And then they had the brilliant idea of changing the name from war — you know it was war — to defense. And with that went a certain thinking, and we fought in a very politically correct way after that. We always had the strongest military, and now we have a stronger military than we’ve ever had before because of my first term. I’ve totally rebuilt the military, every aspect of it. But we have, if you think, we’ve settled eight wars in eight months. I’m now including this one, by the way, if that’s OK. They may say, well, that was quick because yesterday I was saying seven, but now I can say eight. The hostages are back. The hostages are back.

It is a good feeling. Isn’t that nice to say? You know, I just said the hostages, the first time I said it, the hostages are back. It sounds, it feels so good to say it. But when you settle eight wars in eight months, that means you don’t like war. Everyone thought I was going to be brutal. In fact, I remember Hillary Clinton during a debate, She said, “Look at him, look at him. He’s going to go to war with everybody. And actually she said, “He’s got a personality that’s all about war.” No, my personality actually is all about stopping wars, and it seems to work, seems to work.

But it also means, this name change and our attitude, that we’re not going to go into a war, but if we do, we’re going to win that war like nobody has ever won a war before. We will not be politically correct, but we’re not going to be there, and I think you know, as you mentioned, Bibi, before, peace through strength, and that’s what it’s all about. The United States has the greatest and most powerful military in the, right now, history of the world. I can tell you we have weapons that nobody’s ever dreamt of. I only hope we never have to use them. I rebuilt the military. I was proud to do it, but some of the things I hated to do. I hated certain of the weapons because the level of power is so enormous. It’s so dangerous, so bad. But we have to do what we have to do. We make the best weapons in the world, and we’ve got a lot of them. And we’ve given a lot to Israel, frankly, and, I mean, Bibi would call me so many times: “Can you get me this weapon, that weapon, that weapon.” Some of them I never heard of, Bibi, and I made them. But we’d get them here, wouldn’t we? And they are the best. They are the best. But you used them well. It also takes people that know how to use them, and you obviously used them very well. But so many that Israel became strong and powerful, which ultimately led to peace. That’s what led to peace.

So as we celebrate today, let us remember how this nightmare of depravity and death all began. Two years ago on the eve of the Simchat Torah holiday, thousands of innocent Israeli civilians were attacked by terrorists in one of the most evil and heinous desecrations of innocent life the world has ever seen. The worst slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust. The cruelty of October 7th struck to the core of humanity itself. Nobody could believe what they were witnessing. The United States of America grieved alongside you, and we mourned for our own citizens who were so viciously taken that day. And to all the families whose lives were forever changed by the atrocities of that day and all of the people of Israel, please know that America joins you in those two everlasting vows: Never forget and never again.

From October 7th until this week, Israel has been a nation at war, enduring burdens that only a proud and faithful people could withstand. It was a very tough period of time. For so many families across this land, it has been years since you’ve known a single day of true peace, but now at last, not only for Israelis, but also for Palestinians and for many others, the long and painful nightmare is finally over. And as the dust settles, the smoke fades, the debris is removed, and the ashes cleaned from the air, the day that breaks on a region transformed, and a beautiful and much brighter future appears suddenly within your reach. This is now a very exciting time for Israel and for the entire Middle East because all across the Middle East, the forces of chaos, terror and ruin that have plagued the region for decades now stand weakened, isolated and totally defeated. A new coalition of proud and responsible nations is emerging. And because of us, the enemies of all civilization are in retreat.

Thanks to the bravery and incredible skill of the Israeli Defense Forces and Operation Rising Lion. The guy’s central casting. Let’s put him in a movie. Look at him. Great job. And my people loved working with you, loved it. They worked so well together, for many of Iran’s top terrorists, including nuclear scientists and commanders, have been extinguished from this earth. And with Operation Midnight Hammer — boy, that’s a great name for that, what we did last June — the United States military flew seven of those beautiful B-2 bombers. They look so beautiful all of a sudden. They were always — I thought they were pretty planes. I had no idea they could do what they did. In fact, we just ordered 28 more of them. A little, a little updated version. We ordered a whole pile of them. And almost 100 other planes went with them, including fighter jets. We had 52 tankers, big, beautiful, brand-new tankers that were loading them up four or five times. They traveled 37 hours back and forth. Think of that. But we had tankers all over the sky for all the other planes. We had the F-22s, the F-35s, the F-16s. We had a hell of a lot of planes. So we had 52 gas stations in the sky. That’s what they call them. I tell you, I wouldn’t want to be flying one of them.

We have our great Gen. “Raizin” Caine right here. General, stand up. This guy, what a general. Thank you. I asked Gen. Caine, I said, “You know, we’re having problems with ISIS,” and I was in Washington. And I asked, “How long would it take to defeat ISIS?” And my Washington generals told me, “Three, four, maybe five years, sir.” I said, “I don’t get it. We’ve got the best equipment in the world. Why?” So I flew to Iraq, and I met with a man named Caine. I said, “What’s your first name?” He said, “They call me Raizin, sir.” I said, “Wait a minute. Your name is Raizin Caine? I’ve been looking for you for a long time. You gotta be kidding.”

So they told me three, four, five years to defeat ISIS. And I sit down with him and I say, “Why is it?” I flew there; in the dark of night I landed. I’ll never forget it. It’s quite a trip. I’m glad I made it because I met him. I said, “Could I ask you, General?” I come down. He’s standing with another general and a sergeant. Everybody was like central casting. They could go into a movie right now between him and you guys over here. We could get rich making movies, OK? But, and they got along so great. That’s the beautiful thing: that your military and our military, Bibi, got along so great. But I was told by the television generals in Washington, “We have the best equipment in the world. Why is it taking so long?” And they said four years, they said. “So let me ask you, Raizin, how long would it take you to defeat ISIS?” “Sir, we can do it in three weeks, but you’ll probably have some time left over.” I said, “You’ve got to be kidding. What the hell are you talking about? They said four years.” He said, “Well, sir, look, it’s not my place to say, but you’re asking me the question. What you have to do is you hit ’em from the west. You hit ’em from the north. You hit ’em from the south. You hit ’em above. You hit ’em below.” I said, “So why didn’t they do it?”

And he didn’t want to speak badly of his superiors, which is hard to believe they were his superiors. It should have been the other way around a long time ago because he’s the one that did Operation Inherent [Resolve]. It was flawless. It was flawless. It was absolutely flawless. And I said, “So you really think you can do it in four weeks?” “Yes, sir, 100%. You have to do it differently than they were doing it. They were using one base, and it was hundreds of miles away.” And he says, “We have all these portable bases all over the Middle East, and they didn’t want to use them because they didn’t want to offend the country where the portable” — they wouldn’t have even known what the hell the planes were going up, right? They wouldn’t have known. But he said, “No, they didn’t want to defend anybody — offend anybody. But we can do it in four weeks.” I said, “You sure about that? I’m going to call you back. I’ll call you back on Monday. I’m going back to Washington. But you think four weeks?” “Yes, sir, I think we can do it in four weeks. We’ll have time left over.”

So I call him on Monday. I say, “You think you can do it in four weeks?” I said, “Go ahead and do it.” He did it. I’ll tell you, he did it in four weeks, less than four weeks. So, General, stand up, please. Again, this is a real general. This is not a television general. He doesn’t want to go on television. He doesn’t want to go on television. The other guys love being on television.

So we dropped 14 bombs on Iran’s key nuclear facilities, totally, as I said originally, obliterating them, and that’s been confirmed, and everybody understands it. Together we stopped the No. 1 state sponsor of terror from obtaining the world’s most dangerous weapons.

And if you think about it, if we didn’t do that, and assuming we made the same deal that we have today, there’d be a dark cloud over this deal. And, No. 1, it wouldn’t happen because the other Arab and Muslim nations really wouldn’t feel comfortable making the deal that we have now, right, if Iran had that nuclear weapon that they were about two months away from having. They would have had it in two months or maybe less than that.

They were right; this was our last shot. They looked at it for 22 years. This was our last shot. The pilots told me that. They said, “22 years, sir, they looked at it. Our predecessors looked. They studied it. Three times a year we do drills on that exact attack.” And, boy, did they get it right.

But let’s assume they didn’t, and let’s assume there was large-scale nuclear weapons in the hands of Iran. We couldn’t be here today, even if we signed the deal, which we couldn’t do because a lot of people would not want to have anything to do with it. We took a big cloud off of the Middle East and off of Israel. And it was my honor to help, but isn’t it true, though? Can you imagine the same, let’s assume the same documents, we had everything the same, but you had somebody out there that was, in the opinion of everybody, all powerful in the Middle East? They took a big hit, didn’t they? Didn’t they take a big hit? Boy, oh boy. They got hit from one side to the other.

And you know it would be great if we could make a peace deal with them, and I think that’s big. Would you be happy with that? Wouldn’t it be nice? I think. Because I think they want to. I think they’re tired. Somebody said, “Sir, they’re starting their nuclear program again.” I said, “Let me tell you something. They’re not starting anything. They want to survive. The last thing they want to do is start digging holes again in mountains that just got blown up and start.” They’re not doing this. They want to survive, OK? But I think we have a chance. Steve, you and I think Jared, come on. I’ll call you back for another one. We always bring Jared when we want to get that deal closed. We bring Jared, but, Steve, you and Jared and the general and Pete and Marco, you’ll get that deal done easy. I think that’ll be easy.

But first we have to get Russia done. We’ve got to get that one done. If you don’t mind, Steve, let’s focus on Russia first, all right? We’ll get it done.

In Lebanon, the dagger of Hezbollah, long aimed at Israel’s throat, has been totally shattered. My administration is actively supporting the new president of Lebanon in his mission to permanently disarm Hezbollah’s terror brigades — he’s doing very well — and build a thriving state at peace with its neighbors. And you’re very much in favor of that, I know, and it’s good things are happening there, really good things.

And with this week’s ceasefire, we’ve achieved the most challenging breakthrough of them all, the most challenging breakthrough maybe ever. I mean, I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve been involved in a lot of success. I have never seen anything like what’s going on today all over the world. People are dancing in the streets, not just in Israel. They’re dancing in the streets of countries that would have never danced in the street about what’s happening today. They’re dancing in those streets. So this long and difficult war has now ended. You know, some people say 3,000 years; some people say 500 years. Whatever it is, it’s the granddaddy of them all, and, in an unprecedented achievement, virtually the entire region has endorsed the plan that Gaza will be immediately demilitarized, that Hamas will be disarmed, and Israel’s security will no longer be threatened in any way, shape or form.

So Israel, with our help, has won all that they can by force of arms. You’ve won. I mean, you’ve won. 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. It’s about time you were able to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Mr. Opposition Leader [Yair Lapid], I said he’s a very nice opposition leader, I think. No, he’s a nice man. Bibi, he’s a nice man. Good. He knows what he’s doing, right? No, a very nice guy. Well, see, now you can be a little bit nicer, Bibi, because you’re not at war anymore, Bibi. But 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. You don’t want to have to go through this again.

Eight years ago, I came to this region on a very special first trip abroad as the president of the United States. I came here very early at your request. I addressed the leaders of the Arab and Muslim world gathered in Saudi Arabia and said that it was time to build a future free of the grip of extremism and terror, and I’m — interestingly right now, as soon as I’m finished, I’m quite late.

You’ve kept me quite late between opposition leaders and Bibi’s brilliant but very long speech. I thought I was going to run up here, make a speech and then head to Egypt. It didn’t work out, though, and you made a pretty long one too, Sara. But I liked what you all said. It could be worse; supposing on top of it I didn’t like what you said. That would be no good, Ron, would it? Ron, you did a great job, by the way, Ron. Yeah.

So I’m going to be meeting, actually in a little while, I’m going to be meeting with the most powerful, the richest nations really in the world, although now with the tariffs the United States is by far the richest nation in the world, as you probably have been reading. But the richest nations, most powerful nations, you know, tremendous, tremendous, headed by some tremendous people in many cases. Some cases I wouldn’t say necessarily I would endorse, but I will tell you some incredible people that really helped us make this all possible, so I’ll be going there. I’ll be quite late. They might not be there by the time I get there. But we’re going to give it a shot.

But the journey we started back then led to the crushing defeat of the ISIS caliphate, to the monumental Abraham Accords and ultimately to the historic ceasefire this week in which many of those same nations really played a very pivotal role, I have to tell you. Steve will tell you that. Jared will tell you that. Together we’ve shown that peace is not just a hope that we can dream about. It’s a reality we can build upon day by day, person by person and nation by nation.

And because of that, the Middle East is finally ready to embrace its extraordinary potential. You have extraordinary potential in this region. It should now be clear to everyone throughout the region that decades of fomenting terrorism and extremism, jihadism and antisemitism have not worked. They haven’t worked. They’ve been a disaster. They’ve just killed. They’ve killed. They backfired completely and totally. They’ve just totally backfired. Everything that you thought, take it worst case, it’s turned out to be worse than that. They have not worked. From Gaza to Iran, those bitter hatreds have delivered nothing but misery, suffering, failure and death. They’ve served not to weaken Israel but to annihilate the very forces that did the most to foment this hatred, and it’s really, I mean, everybody that’s tried it has become irrelevant.

Meanwhile, we’ve seen those nations that set aside their differences, reached across ancient divides and pursued engagement are now among the most successful in the region. They’re getting along with Israel, and they’re doing great. And I can tell you the four nations that joined the Abraham Accords early on — and you’d all be doing me a favor, and I’m going to be saying this in a little while to some other friends. We’d love you all to — is this right, Jared? — join up in the Abraham Accords. We have to join up and get together. You can have that whole thing filled out.

We had a very weak administration, worst president in the history of our country by far, and Barack Obama was not far behind, by the way. And they did nothing with this incredible document, the Abraham Accords, but now you can fill them up. Now you have peace. You have people that really like Israel, I’ll tell you what, and they like Israel a lot more today than they did even five weeks ago. Like you’ve made a lot of — you’ve come back. You’ve come back strong because it was getting to be a little nasty out there in the world, and ultimately the world wins.

You can’t beat the world. I would say to Bibi, “Bibi, it’s now time,” and he understood it better than anybody because ultimately, you know, the world’s a very big place, and I’ve said a lot. I said this piece of land is very small. It’s unbelievable what you’ve done with that tiny — you look at a map even of just not the world, the Middle East, and you have this little dot. And think of what you’ve done. It’s incredible. It’s incredible.

But the world is loving, the world is loving Israel again, and I said to Bibi, “You know, the world is big, and it’s strong. And, Ron, ultimately, the world wins.” And we don’t have to worry about that now, but there was getting to be a period of time over the last few months, you know, the world wanted peace, and Israel wanted peace. Everybody did. Everybody did, and what a victory it’s been, right? What a victory it’s been.

If you would have gone on for three, four more years, keep fighting, fighting, fighting, it was, it was getting bad. It was getting heated. The timing of this is brilliant, and I said, “Bibi, you’re going to be remembered for this far more than if you kept this thing going, going, going, kill, kill, kill.” It would not be the same, and I just want to congratulate you for having the courage to say: “That’s it. We’ve won. And now let’s enjoy our lives, and let’s rebuild Israel and make it stronger and bigger and better than it’s ever been before.” We’re going to do that. Took a lot of guts.

And the choice for Palestinians could not be more clear. This is their chance to turn forever from the path of terror and violence. It’s been extreme. To exile the wicked forces of hate that are in their midst, and I think that’s going to happen. I’ve met some people over the last couple of months that want to see it happen very much, and after tremendous pain and death and hardship, now is the time to concentrate on building their people up instead of trying to tear Israel down. We don’t want that to happen again. And the total focus of Gazans must be on restoring the fundamentals of stability, safety, dignity and economic development so they can finally have the better life that their children really do deserve after all these decades of horror.

I intend to be a partner in this effort in the sense that we’re going to help, and we’re going to do something that became unbelievably popular. Everybody wants to be on it. It’s called the Board of Peace. OK, how about that? Is that a beautiful name? Like a board of peace. The only bad thing from my standpoint: Every single nation involved has asked me to be the chair. And I’ll tell you, I’m very busy. I didn’t count on that, but you know what? If we do it, we’ll do it right, and we have unbelievable power and wealth because you’re going to need wealth. You’re going to need wealth to rebuild things, and they have wealth like few people have wealth.

I want to thank the Arab and Muslim nations for their commitment that they’ve made to support a safe rebuilding of Gaza and beyond. I have many Arab countries, very wealthy countries, that came up and said, “We’ll put up tremendous amounts of money to get rebuilt, to rebuild Gaza.” And I think that’s going to happen. The power. They want dignity. They want to come forward, and they want to say, and I want to say who they are because what they’re doing is going to be, I think, something that you’re going to be very impressed with, Bibi, and you need that. You need the kind of economic power that they have, and they want to see it work. And they want to see it be safe, and they want to see it be good for Israel too. And as much money as it will be, and it’s a lot, as you can see, it’s a lot, for these countries it’s relatively little relative to their worth. It’s really a lot of money, like money most people could never even conceive, but for these countries it’s not that much, especially because it ensures success and stability in the Middle East, which is what they want to see. So many of them will be with us in Egypt in a little while, I think. I’m not sure. They may be gone. They may have taken their Boeing 747s and left. I said, “What kind of a plane do you fly?” “747.” I said, “That’s a large plane.”

No, they may have. Steve, do you think they’ve left on their Boeing, their brand-new Boeing 747s? I don’t know. We’re going to find out soon. It’s going to be a big story. There’ll be two people left, and they’ll be the two poorest ones.

But it will be the wealthiest and most powerful group of nations, so the group that we have assembled that’s waiting for us is the wealthiest and most powerful group ever assembled at one time. There has never been a group like this, and they’re only looking for good. They want good. They’re going to do good. And as those commitments are made, I’m going to let the world know who’s doing it because they really deserve to get the credit. And some of them probably won’t want the credit, but they deserve it.

It’s 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, and that’s what’s going to happen. I know it. Together you can stand against the forces of chaos. Yeah, you go ahead; that’s an important point. Because you can stand against the forces of chaos that threatened all of your interests, and it’s always a big threat, always a big threat, and unleash incredible prosperity and opportunity for all the people of these lands, and that’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to unleash numbers and success the likes of which Israel has never been able to think of because you’re so firm, and you should be, and you’ve done the right thing in defending yourself. You’re not going to have to worry so much about it. You’ve won, and now you can build, and you can do things that you never even thought possible.

It’s when you put that genius into doing something else, it’s going to be something that’s — it’s going to be a miracle, the miracle in the desert. It’s going to be amazing, and it already is in a true sense. But it’ll be wonderful when you can spend time thinking about other than war and defense and offense also. To that end, it’s my firm hope and dream, frankly, that together the Abraham Accords will turn out to be everything that we thought they would. Those four countries were very, very brave in doing it. They did it at a very early point, and every single one of them benefits unbelievably financially. And if you noticed, even in this bad period that we just went through, they all remained a member of the Abraham Accords. They’ve done unbelievably well, and I just, and you know who you are, and I want to thank you. And they’ve stayed because of loyalty, but they’ve also stayed because it was really good business. They’ve made a lot of money being members, and you’re going to all, I think, I hope that every one of the countries that we’re seeking, Jared, I hope they join quickly, no games, no nothing. Just join, get it.

It’s going to be a great peacemaker. It’s really going to bring it together beyond anybody’s wildest dreams. So instead of building fortresses to keep enemies at bay, the nations of this region should be building infrastructure to weave your commerce closer together because you’ve got to compete with the big world out there in commerce now. It’s a different kind of competition. 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. It’s, well, it’s a lot of intelligence you’re going to have to be throwing off to pay back these sums of money that they’re doing, but that’s really the hot one.

And I might say that the United States a year ago was a dead country. I say it to people. I heard it first from the king of Saudi Arabia. I then heard it from UAE. I heard it from Qatar. I heard it from many other countries. A year ago, the United States of America was a dead country. Now it’s the hottest country anywhere in the world. It is the hottest. There’s no question about it. In fact, if you go back a year ago before the election, although once we had November 5th, we became hot because people got it. I would say November 5th was the time that we became really hot. But once you go back a couple of years, if I were in charge, and the country is doing what, nobody was going to ask me to speak. Nobody asked Joe Biden to come up and speak, I guarantee you that. And if they did, he would have turned them down, I promise you. He didn’t speak. He didn’t speak, and he didn’t speak well.

But all of the countries in the Middle East, it could have, what we’re doing now, it could have happened a long time ago. But it was strangled and set back almost irretrievably by the administrations of Barack Obama and then Joe Biden. It was, there was a hatred toward Israel. It was an absolute hatred. The setbacks really started when President Obama signed the Iran nuclear deal. This was a disaster for Israel, and it was a disaster for everyone. And I remember that Bibi Netanyahu came to the United States and worked so hard to try and get Obama not to do that deal. He worked so hard. But it was like talking to a wall. I remember him telling me it was like talking to a wall.

They wanted to go with Iran. They chose Iran, frankly, over a lot of other good nations, but specifically Israel, and that was the beginning of a very bad period of time. You had Obama go out, and the Iran nuclear deal turned out to be a disaster. And, by the way, I terminated the Iran nuclear deal, and I was very proud to do it.

Yet even to Iran, whose regime has inflicted so much death on the Middle East, the hand of friendship and cooperation is open. I’m telling you, they want to make a deal. That’s all I do in my life. I make deals. I’m good at it. I’ve always been good at it, and I know what they want. Even if they said, “We don’t want to make a deal,” I can tell you they want to make a deal. All right? They do. 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. Neither the United States nor Israel bear the people of Iran any hostility. We merely want to live in peace. We don’t want any looming threats over our heads, and we don’t want to even think in terms of nuclear destruction. It’s not going to happen. Never will happen.

There’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. They have to do that. They have to do that. And to Iran — and as you know, this is not said out of weakness; there’s no weakness. But I’m going to say this: That we are ready when you are, and it will be the best decision that Iran has ever made. And it’s going to happen. It’s going to happen. And they’re good people. I know a lot of Iranians in the United States. They’re good people, smart, hard-working people. They don’t want to see what’s happened to their country.

The story of fierce Israeli resolve and triumph since October 7th should be proof to the entire world that those who seek to destroy this nation are doomed to bitter failure. The State of Israel is strong, and it will live and thrive forever. And that is why Israel will always remain a vital ally of the United States of America. Israelis share our values, field one of the world’s most powerful militaries. You really do. You have an amazing — what a job, what a job you’ve done. And have one of the most innovative economies on Earth. Those are just a few of the reasons why I’m proud to be the best friend that Israel has ever had, and they all say it, in the White House. They all say it. I guess it’s true because everybody says it. Bibi, you said it today. Thank you.

But as president, I terminated the disastrous Iran nuclear deal, and ultimately I terminated Iran’s nuclear program with the things called B-2 bombers. It was swift, and it was accurate, and it was a military beauty. I authorized the spending of billions of dollars which went to Israel’s defense, as you know. And after years of broken promises from many other American presidents — you know that they kept promising. I never understood it until I got there. There was a lot of pressure put on these presidents. It was put on me too, but I didn’t yield to the pressure. But every president for decades said we’re going to do it. The difference is I kept my promise and officially recognized the capital of Israel and moved the American Embassy to Jerusalem.

Isn’t that right, Miriam [Adelson]? Look at Miriam. She’s back there. Stand up, Miriam. Stand up. Miriam and Sheldon would come into the office. They’d call me. He’d call me. I think they had more trips to the White House than anybody else I can think of. Look at her sitting there so innocently. She’s got 60 billion in the bank, 60 billion. And she loves, and she loves — I think she’s saying no more — and she loves Israel. But she loves it. And they would come in, and her husband was a very aggressive man, but I loved him. He was very aggressive, very supportive of me, and he’d call up: “Can I come over and see you?” I’d say, “Sheldon, I’m the president of the United States. It doesn’t work that way.” He’d come in.

But they were very responsible for so much, including getting me thinking about Golan Heights, which is probably one of the greatest things that ever happened. Miriam, stand up, please. She really is. I mean, she loves this country. She loves this country. Her and her husband are so incredible. We miss him so dearly. But I actually asked her, I’m going to get her in trouble with this, but I actually asked her once, I said, “So, Miriam, I know you love Israel. What do you love more, the United States or Israel?” She refused to answer. That means that might be an issue, I must say. We love you. Thank you, darling, for being here. That’s a great honor. Great honor. She’s a wonderful woman. She is a great woman.

I’ve always stood for the people of this community, and I always will. I’ll always be with you. I’m always going to be with you. I guess maybe something could happen that changed my mind. Somebody that’s really stupid gets into office and wants to do really bad things, but that’s about it. We don’t think we’re going to have that happen. I hope we’re not going to have that happen, and this man is a good man right here. These two men are good men right here.

Hey, I have an idea. Mr. President, why don’t you give him a pardon? Give him a pardon. Come on. By the way, that was not in the speech, as you probably know. But I happen to like this gentleman right over here, and it just seems to make so much sense. You know, whether we like it or not, this has been one of the greatest wartime presidents. This has been one of the greatest wartime presidents, and cigars and champagne, who the hell cares about?

All right, enough controversy for the day, right? It’s actually, I don’t think it’s very controversial, so, you know, I mean, I see he’s so popular. You are a very popular man. You know why? Because you know how to win.

Over the past two years I’ve met many of the families of the Israelis taken hostage and those that were taken hostage. Unbelievable. I’ve looked into their eyes. I’ve seen the worst nightmares of their suffering, but I’ve also seen something else: the beautiful love of the people, the love of people frankly that hold things together, the love that gives you the courage to carry on through thousands of years of persecution and repression and to emerge with the heart of David. It’s the heart of David. It’s that love that’s defeated the enemies of civilization, built this incredible country and this unbelievable economy, and forged one of the great democracies of the world.

That is why it’s a true honor to stand here today and address this assembly in your ancient and eternal now-capital, Jerusalem. I’m proud to have helped in that regard. This city and this nation stand as living proof that a much brighter future for this entire region is truly within our grasp. For thousands of years, Jerusalem has been a home to Christians, Jews, Muslims, and people of all ethnicities and creeds. This is the holy center of the world’s three great Abrahamic faiths. I like that too. Adorned — it’s the first time I’ve seen that word in a while — adorned with their sacred sites and alive with their pilgrims and visitors from every corner of the globe.

But here between the Western Wall, the Temple Mount and the hill called Calvary, people of every faith and background live, work, pray, serve and raise their families side by side, and they do it with love. This example is just one of the modern miracles that Israel has given to the world. And just in closing, the leaders in this chamber know better than anyone else the challenges of this harmony, and it’s been easily won? No, it hasn’t. It has not been. It’s been so tough, but it has been, some say, a miracle.

What you’ve done is a miracle. Look at your size. Look at your chances when it all started. And you know, if you think about it, you are safer today, stronger today and more respected today than at any time in the history of Israel. Think of it. People used to say it wouldn’t exist. They don’t say that anymore, do they?

Yet if safety, security and coexistence can thrive here in the winding alleys and ancient paths of Jerusalem, then surely peace and respect can flourish among the nations of the broader Middle East. The God who once dwelled among his people in the city still calls us, in the words of Scripture, to turn from evil and do good, to seek peace and pursue it. So he still whispers truth into the hills and knolls and valleys of his magnificent creation, and he still writes hope into the hearts of his children all over the world.

And that is why even after 3,000 years of pain and conflict, the people of Israel have never given up from the threats of Zionism, from all sorts of threats. You want the promise of Zion. You want the promise of success and hope and love and God, and the people of America have never lost faith in the promise of a great and blessed future for all of us.

From the very first day that modern Israel was founded, we have stood together through thick and thin. The thin of setbacks and through victory and defeat, through glory and heartache, we have built industries together. We have made discoveries together. We have confronted evil together, and we have waged war together. And perhaps most beautifully of all, we have made peace together, and this week against all odds we have done the impossible and brought our hostages home.

So now we’re going to forge a future that is worthy of our heritage. We’re going to build a legacy that all the people of this region can be proud of. New bonds of friendship, cooperation and commerce will join Tel Aviv to Dubai, Haifa to Beirut, Jerusalem to Damascus, and from Israel to Egypt, from Saudi Arabia to Qatar, from India to Pakistan, from Indonesia to Iraq, from Syria to Bahrain, Turkey to Jordan, the United Arab Emirates to Oman, and Armenia to Azerbaijan, another war that I just settled. We are going to have hope, harmony, opportunity and happiness here in the spiritual and geographic center of the entire world. That’s what you are. Israel, America and all of the nations of the Middle East will soon be safer, stronger, greater and more prosperous than ever before.

And I want to thank you all once again for this exceptional honor. This has been truly an honor. It’s seldom that a president is invited to do this, and I love Israel. I’m with you all the way. You will be bigger, better, stronger and more loving than ever before. Thank you very much. God bless you. God bless the United States of America, and God bless the Middle East. Thank you, everybody. Good luck. Thank you very much. Thank you.