Although the U.S.-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas remains fragile, Trump is determined to seize an opportunity to chase an elusive regional harmony.
President Donald Trump will tell Israeli lawmakers on Monday that their country had no more to achieve on the battlefield and must work toward peace in the Middle East after two years of war against Hamas and skirmishes with Hezbollah and Iran.
Although the U.S.-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas remains fragile, Trump is determined to seize an opportunity to chase an elusive regional harmony.
“Generations from now, this will be remembered as the moment that everything began to change,” he declared to the Knesset, which welcomed him as a hero.
According to excerpts of the speech released by the White House, Trump will say “Israel has won all that can be won by force of arms” and “now it is time to translate these victories against terrorists on the battlefield into the ultimate prize of peace and prosperity for the entire Middle East.”
Trump even plans to make a gesture to Iran, where he bombed three nuclear sites during the country’s brief war with Israel earlier this year, by saying “the hand of friendship and cooperation is always open.”
The U.S. president will continue on to Egypt for a summit with more than two dozen other nations. There was talk of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joining him, and Egypt even announced his attendance. However, Netanyahu’s office said later that he would not be going because the summit was too close to the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah.
Twenty hostages were released Monday as part of an agreement intended to end the war that began on Oct.
