‘Never Forget and Never Again’: Trump addresses Israeli Knesset as hostages come home, ceasefire begins

Trump was greeted with applause and standing ovations, although one member of parliament, Ofer Cassif of the leftist Hadash party, was expelled after causing a disruption during Trump's remarks.

"We gather on a day of profound joy," Trump began, "of renewed faith, above all today 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." Those 28 hostages who are deceased, whose bodies have been held by Hamas, are also being returned home.

"Today the skies are calm, the guns are silent, 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 the age of terror and death, the beginning of the age of faith and hope and of God."

Trump praised his special envoy Steve Witkoff and the rest of his team, as well as the Israeli leaders who worked hard to attain peace between Israel and the Palestinians of Gaza. "Let me also convey my tremendous appreciation for all of the nations of the Arab and Muslim world that came together to impress Hamas, to set the hostages free, to send them home. We had a lot of help. We had a lot of help, a lot of people that you wouldn't suspect. I want to thank them very much for that," he said.

Trump said that this peace is "an incredible triumph," and that "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 to work together."

He spoke of the relationship between America and Israel and the difficulties faced following the Oct. 7 attacks.

"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 Simhat Torah holiday, thousands of innocent Israeli civilians were attacked by terrorists and 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 7 struck to the core of humanity itself. Nobody could believe what they were witnessing," Trump went on to say.

"The United States of America grieved alongside you, and we mourn 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," he continued.

After discussing what has already happened and the present peace deal, Trump's remarks turned to the future. "Now it's time to translate these victories against terrorists on the battlefield into the ultimate rise of peace and prosperity for the entire Middle East," Trump said. Part of that, he said, was to have the rest of the nations of the Middle East join the Abraham Accords, which were a triumph of Trump's first term.

"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, extremism, jihadism and anti-semitism have not worked. They haven't worked. They've been a disaster," Trump said. He also spoke about how much of a public relations disaster the war has been for Israel as activists across the world took to the streets to advocate for the terrorists.

"But the world is loving, the world is loving Israel again. And I said to you now, the world is big and it's strong. Ultimately, the world wins, and we don't have to worry about that now, but it 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," Trump said. "It was getting bad. It was getting heated. The timing of this is brilliant."

As for Gaza, he said the total focus of that region "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."

He also looked to Israel's future, saying, "Together, you can stand against the forces of chaos. Yeah, you go ahead, because you can stand against the forces of chaos that threaten all of your interests, 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."

As he brought his speech to a close, he said, "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, 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," Trump said. "And I want to thank you all once again for this exceptional honor. This has been truly an honor, so 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."