Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that he is awarding President Trump the Israeli Prize, the Jewish state’s highest award, which has never before gone to a non-Israeli citizen.
Mr. Netanyahu, addressing the Knesset with Mr. Trump at his side, expressed gratitude and awe at the fast pace of the American president’s achievements.
“Donald Trump is the greatest friend that the State of Israel has ever had in the White House,” Mr. Netanyahu said.
The prime minister thanked Mr. Trump for his 20-point peace plan that ended the war in Gaza and saw Hamas release all the remaining Jewish hostages. He said the U.S. president provided “pivotal leadership in putting forward a proposal that got the backing of almost the entire world.”
“Mr. President, you are committed to peace. I am committed to peace, and together we will achieve this peace,” he continued. “We’ve done it before.”
As of Monday, Israel and Hamas have lived up to their part of the initial steps of the agreement, with Hamas releasing 20 living hostages and Israel handing over more than 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Mr. Netanyahu, who has been accused of war crimes for military action to defeat Hamas terrorists in Gaza, also gave a full-throated defense of his actions since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists slaughtered 1,200 Jews in a savage rampage in Israel.
“In response to this barbaric attack on October 7, Israel did what it had to do. With indomitable courage, we set out to defend our people, to defeat our enemies and release our hostages. Our heroic soldiers fought like lions,” Mr. Netanyahu said.
“Israel achieved amazing victories over Hamas and the entire Iran terror axis. Sinwar. Haniyeh, Nasrallah, Assad, they’re all gone,” he continued, referring to the slain leaders of Hamas, its ally, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group and the longtime former leader of Syria.
Mr. Netanyahu assured the world he is committed to peace, praising a U.S.-brokered ceasefire for bringing Israeli hostages home and ending the war “by achieving all our objectives.
He said the ceasefire “opens the door to a historic expansion of peace in our region and beyond our region,” Mr. Netanyahu said.
During his remarks, Mr. Netanyahu honored Ari Spitz, an American-Israeli combat soldier in the Israeli Defense Force, who lost a hand and both legs when a bomb went off in Gaza six months ago.
