Hoshana Rabbah isn’t exactly the best day for the Knesset to convene. It is a day when we are all busy davening for a good kvittel, when we daven k’vosikin after spending the night immersed in Torah learning and then try to get some rest in preparation for Simchas Torah (which is observed on Shemini Atzeres in Eretz Yisroel). But this year, the Knesset convened on Hoshana Rabbah to receive a guest from abroad: President Donald Trump.
In truth, the president was originally scheduled to visit Israel on the previous day. That Sunday, the day after Shabbos Chol Hamoed, would also have made for a less-than-optimal time for a state visit, but it might have been slightly more convenient. Nevertheless, Trump has his own schedule and agenda, and he decided to postpone his visit by one day so that he could be in Israel and deliver his speech after the hostages had been released from Hamas’ tunnels and returned to the hospitals in Israel. Sure enough, the hostages began returning on Hoshana Rabbah, early in the morning.
Trump’s visit was supposed to be very brief. The police announced that Highway One, which connects Yerushalayim and Tel Aviv, would be closed from Ben Gurion Airport to Yerushalayim beginning at 7:00 in the morning, until 12:00 in the afternoon. Trump was scheduled to land at 9:20 and attend a short ceremony, after which he would head directly to the Knesset in Yerushalayim. In the Knesset, Trump was scheduled to meet with Netanyahu in his office on the second floor, then to meet with the families of the hostages in the Chagall auditorium on the fourth floor, and finally to appear in the Knesset plenum on the third floor. The members of the Knesset were asked to take their seats by 10:30, since the festive Knesset session was scheduled to begin exactly at 11:00, when Trump was to enter the room accompanied by President Yitzchok Herzog, Knesset speaker Amir Ochana, and Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu. In reality, Trump showed up along with the three leading Israeli politicians much later in the day.
Vying for Invitations
For the Knesset, this event required massive logistical preparations that involved the work of hundreds of Knesset employees, who had to miss part of the Sukkos vacation for the purpose. In principle, the Knesset building is supposed to be locked throughout the holiday; no one, even the Arab MKs, enters the premises. But this Sukkos, hundreds of Knesset employees had to work around the clock to prepare for the special session that would be attended by a large number of participants. The building had to be cleaned and polished, red carpets rolled out, signs printed and hung, and invitations printed and distributed. The workers also had to organize the seating for the event, set up floral arrangements, and arrange the Knesset lobby in honor of the visitor, as well as preparing a sign greeting him, a chair and table for his use when he arrived, and the guest book that he would sign. On Sunday, the Knesset employees built a sukkah as well. After all, it was unthinkable for the parliament of the Jewish state not to be equipped with a sukkah, for the benefit of anyone who chose to partake of some mezonos during the day. In fact, I can reveal that two sukkos were built, one of which was reserved for specific guests — even though everyone present in the Knesset that day was necessarily well-connected.
Two days before the event, everyone with a connection to the Knesset received an internal email informing them that all the regular entry permits had been canceled. Another email followed on its heels, notifying the recipients that the authority of the Knesset members to invite guests to the Knesset building had been suspended for that day. A member of the Knesset can generally use his personal computer to invite guests and issue visitors’ passes for them; however, their ability to do so was restricted for that Monday. Anyone present in the building who hadn’t been invited to the event was asked to leave no later than 9:00 a.m. And a third email added another couple of restrictions: Every member of the Knesset was permitted to arrive at the event with no more than two aides, and those companions would have to travel along with him in his personal car. The goal was to limit the number of people present in the building as well as the number of vehicles that would arrive on the premises. After all, President Trump’s motorcade alone would consist of about 30 cars. And if a member of the Knesset chose to be accompanied by his or her spouse, only one aide would be permitted to join them.
The competition for invitations to the event turned into a fairly major story on its own. In addition to the main chamber of the Knesset, there are two visitors’ galleries — one for VIPs, which is located directly above the chamber, and the other for the general public, which is separated from the main room by a barrier of bulletproof glass. When the Knesset holds an event such as this one, both galleries are packed with chairs to accommodate the maximum number of spectators, but the space is still naturally limited. The number of seats in the plenum and both galleries tends to be insufficient to meet the demand; thousands of people are interested in attending any festive session of the Knesset, even more so when it features a visit from the president of the United States! To make matters even more complicated, the entire left side of the VIP gallery was reserved for the president’s entourage and invited guests, and it was necessary to invite the entire top tier of the country’s leadership, as well as all the former members of the Knesset (of which there are hundreds). With the spouses of the current members of the Knesset rounding out the crowd, one can easily imagine that there were very few seats remaining. And then there were all the special guests whom the Knesset saw fit to invite for this particular occasion, such as the hostages released in previous exchanges, members of bereaved families, and wounded soldiers. Some of the distinguished guests were name checked in the various speeches, especially those delivered by Netanyahu and Trump.
In light of this situation, you can certainly imagine that there was enormous pressure exerted on the Prime Minister’s Office and the office of the Knesset director-general from many people anxious to receive invitations to the event. These individuals included various mayors and local politicians, as well as political askonim and many other people who wanted not only to be there for the event but to be seen there by others as well. And I will let you in on a secret: The event was also attended by many Americans who were visiting Israel for Sukkos and saw this as a golden opportunity to see their president, which is generally impossible for them in the United States. The guest list included a long series of people whom any tzedokah collector from Israel would be eager to meet. To make a long story short, thousands of people vied for the chance to be present for the event — and let’s not forget the media, both Israeli and American, which was represented by hundreds of reporters, cameramen, and the like. While the usual press permits were suspended for that day, every newspaper and media outlet insisted on being represented.
If you guessed that the allocation of invitations was fraught with conflict, then you are absolutely right. The final decisions were followed by plenty of resentment and complaints from those who felt they had been unfairly deprived of the opportunity to attend the event. The media also gave the Knesset speaker no rest, demanding explanations for the presence of a large number of guests who had received the coveted invitations for unclear reasons. The Knesset speaker’s office seems to have handed out invitations to various people whom the speaker wished to honor, without setting clear criteria for the entitlement. It is also rumored that certain well-connected individuals took large sums of money from others in exchange for securing invitations to the event.
Ochana Showers the President with Flattery
In the end, nothing went according to plan. President Trump’s plane landed slightly later than scheduled, and his arrival in Yerushalayim was delayed significantly. For some reason, he remained in his car for a long time before entering the Knesset building, and it took him a long time to sign the guestbook, in which he wrote a relatively long inscription. His meetings with the prime minister and the hostages’ families also ran late, and the special Knesset session ultimately began at 12:55 rather than 11:00. Thus, Trump began speaking at the time when he was originally scheduled to take off. This meant that the Yerushalayim-Tel Aviv highway remained closed to traffic for many extra hours, to the great chagrin of everyone who was planning on spending Simchas Torah in a yeshiva or with a rebbe and who needed to travel between cities for that purpose.
I won’t go into too much detail about the actual session. Two of the speakers (Ochana and Netanyahu) delivered very long addresses, for which they were called out by Trump himself. But the president likewise wasn’t exactly brief. His speech, which was originally scheduled to take 30 minutes, spanned a full hour and ten minutes, which was an exceptionally long time. The third speaker was Yair Lapid, who is entitled, as the leader of the opposition, to follow the prime minister at the podium and who did not actually say anything of substance. Everyone showered praise on the visiting president, and if Trump enjoys compliments — and we all know that he certainly doesn’t dislike them — then there is no question that he had good reason to be pleased.
Here are a few noteworthy excerpts from the speeches. We’ll begin with Amir Ochana, who started his speech by acknowledging the presence of a long list of guests, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine, and two of the key players in the ceasefire agreement: Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, who was present with his wife, Lauren, and Jared Kushner, who was present as well with his wife, Ivanka. “Thank you, my friends, for all that you have done and for causing this day to happen,” Ochana said, and went on to acknowledge the presence of Ambassador Mike Huckabee as well. It was an endless list of names, each of which elicited a new round of applause.
“My dear audience, citizens of Israel,” Ochana continued, “it is my special honor to welcome, along with you, the greatest friend that the State of Israel has ever had in the White House. Welcome to Israel, welcome to Yerushalayim, and welcome to the Knesset, President Donald J. Trump. Mr. President, I would like to thank you for giving the Knesset the honor and the privilege of being the first parliament outside the United States that you have visited during your current term. According to Jewish tradition, it is customary to recite a blessing at special moments such as this one: ‘Blessed is He Who has given of His honor to flesh and blood.’ Thank you, President Trump.” Switching to English as he addressed the president, Ochana continued, “Mr. President, you are standing before the people of Israel not as one of the presidents of America, but as a giant in the annals of Jewish history. We would have to look back 2500 years to find a parallel to you in King Cyrus. You, President Donald J. Trump, are a giant who will be remembered in the pantheon of history. Thousands of years from now, Mr. President, the Jewish nation will remember you. We are a nation that remembers.”
Ochana’s lengthy speech was accompanied by countless standing ovations. Ochana had actually invited the applause; he announced at the beginning of the event that the rule prohibiting applause in the Knesset would be suspended for the occasion. He also warned the Knesset members that disturbances would not be tolerated. Sure enough, during Trump’s speech, MKs Oudeh and Cassif brandished signs accusing Israel of genocide and were promptly removed from the room. “That was very efficient,” Trump remarked to Ochana after the disturbance was quashed.
“Welcome to Yerushalayim”
Netanyahu was the next to speak, dispensing a lengthy series of compliments, or perhaps flattery. “Welcome to Israel, our eternal capital,” he announced. “Welcome to Israel on this exciting day, which will be etched into the history of our people, just as you, Mr. President, will be etched into our history, as you have already been inscribed in the history of the human race. We always remember our friends, and we are aware of your important and decisive role in bringing the rest of our hostages home. On this day, we were informed just a short time ago, all of our living hostages have returned to us, which is cause for great excitement. We have waited a long time for this moment. We were committed to bringing them all back. I would like to thank you personally and on behalf of our entire nation: Thank you, President Trump, thank you.” Netanyahu went on to enumerate Trump’s favors to Israel and then continued, “My friends, this is only a partial list, but it is enough to affirm what I’ve said time and again: Donald Trump is the greatest friend that the State of Israel has ever had in the White House.” This was followed by yet another round of applause, as the audience rose to their feet for a period of time. Trump did not appear to mind the interruption at all. Netanyahu continued, “No American president has ever done more for Israel, and as I said in Washington, it isn’t even close. It’s really not a match.”
At the end of his speech, Netanyahu announced that he was extending a hand of peace to all of Israel’s enemies, and he turned to the president, who sat near him, and said, “Mr. President, thank you for all that you have done for us. I have nominated you to be the first non-Israeli citizen to receive the Israel Prize, the most highly regarded award in Israel. As for the other award, it is only a matter of time. You will receive it soon, but I want to award the Israel Prize, the most respected prize we have, to our greatest friend. When others showed weakness, you were strong. When others were afraid, you were brave. When others abandoned us, you stood strong at our side. On behalf of the Israeli government and the State of Israel, I thank you for your exceptional friendship. Thank you for helping us bring our hostages home. Thank you for supporting Israel’s march to victory. Thank you for paving the road to peace. Honored president of the United States, my good friend Donald, welcome to Israel and to Yerushalayim on this exciting day. Blessed is He Who has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this day. May G-d bless you and your family, Mr. President, and may G-d bless the United States, Israel, and the alliance between our two countries. Thank you, Mr. President.”
“Steve, Let’s Focus on Russia Now”
When Trump took the podium, a ripple of anticipation ran through the Knesset. The Knesset has never received a visitor as colorful and unpredictable as President Trump, whose popularity in Israel made it even more of an exciting occasion. There were some moments when his audience was practically rolling on the floor with laughter. Personally, I think he may have gone overboard with the praise for some of his own team members in the gallery. “I predict that Marco [Rubio] will go down as the greatest secretary of state in the history of the United States, and I mean it,” Trump said at one point. “I believe it. He was always smart and sharp, and people respected him and still do.” He also praised Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of War — a position formerly known as Secretary of Defense — whom he described as “younger, but an unbelievable leader.” He even complimented Miriam Adelson, who sat in the gallery as Trump praised her for her wealth (“She has sixty billion in the bank,” he proclaimed), and heaped praise on Netanyahu.
Trump went on to praise America, the American army, and himself, as well as to speak highly of the “beautiful” B2 bombers that were sent by the United States to Iran. “Suddenly, they looked so beautiful,” he said. “I always thought they were pretty planes, but I had no idea they could do what they did. In fact, we just ordered 28 more of them, in a slightly updated version. We ordered a whole pile of them. And almost 100 other planes went with them, including fighter jets, and we had 52 tankers — big, beautiful, brand-new tankers — that refueled them four or five times. They traveled 37 hours back and forth; think about that. We had tankers all over the sky for all the other planes. We had the F-22s, the F-35s, F-16s. We had a lot of planes, so we had 52 gas stations in the sky. That’s what they call them. And I wouldn’t want to be flying one of them. We have our great General ‘Raizin’ Caine, right here. General, stand up. What a general! Thank you.”
When Trump spoke about removing the Iranian nuclear threat, he grew enthusiastic and revealed that it had been a key part of the process of uniting the Arab countries to pressure Hamas to accept a deal. Trump then expressed interest making peace with Iran. “You know what would be great?” he said. “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? Because I think they want to. I think they’re tired. Somebody said, ‘Sir, they’re starting their nuclear program again.’ But let me tell you something: They’re not starting anything. They want to survive. That’s all that interests them. The last thing they want to do is dig holes again in the mountains that we just blew up. They won’t do anything; they want to survive. That’s all that interests them. I think we have an opportunity, Steve,” he added. “When we want to close a deal, we bring Jared, Steve, and the general, and Pete and Marco, and we close the deal easily. But first we need to make a deal with Russia. We need to finish with them. If you don’t mind, Steve, let’s focus on Russia first. We’ll finish it somehow.”
A Jab at Biden and Obama
Trump couldn’t resist taking a shot at his predecessors. “A year ago, the United States of America was a dead country,” he said. “I tell this to people. I first heard it from the king of Saudi Arabia, and then I heard it from the UAE, and then I heard it from Qatar and other countries. A year ago, the United States of America was a dead country, but now it is the hottest country in the world. It is the hottest. There’s no question about it. A few years ago, no one would have asked me to speak. No one asked Joe Biden to come speak, and if you had asked him, he would have refused; I guarantee it. He wouldn’t have spoken. He didn’t speak, and he didn’t speak well.
“All of the countries in the Middle East… what we’re doing now 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, because of their hatred toward Israel. There was an absolute hatred. The setbacks really started when President Obama signed the Iran nuclear deal. That was a disaster for Israel, and it was a disaster for everyone. I remember that Bibi Netanyahu came to the United States and worked hard to get Obama not to make that deal. He worked very hard, but it was like talking to a wall. I remember him telling me that it was like talking to a wall. They wanted to make a deal with Iran. They chose Iran, frankly, over a lot of other good nations, but specifically Israel. That was the beginning of a very bad period of time, when Obama went out and the Iran nuclear deal turned out to be a disaster. By the way, I terminated the Iran nuclear deal, and I was very proud to do it.”
After dedicating some lengthy comments to Miriam Adelson and mentioning that she might love Israel even more than the United States, Trump veered into spontaneous, somewhat ambiguous territory: “I’ve always stood for the people of this community, and I always will. I’ll always be with you. I guess something could happen that would change my mind, if someone 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. This man is a good man right here, and those two men are good men,” Trump continued, and then he turned to President Herzog and uttered the words that had the entire country buzzing: “I have an idea, Mr. President. Why don’t you give him a pardon? Give him a pardon!” Upon hearing the thunderous applause and noticing Herzog’s discomfort, Trump said, “By the way, that wasn’t in the speech, as you probably know. But I happen to like this gentleman here, and it just seems to make so much sense. Whether we like it or not, he [Netanyahu] has been one of the greatest wartime presidents. Cigars and champagne? Who cares? Enough controversy for the day, right?” he added. “Actually, I don’t think it’s very controversial, because I see that he’s so popular. You [Netanyahu] are a very popular man. And do you know why? Because you know how to win.”
Trump went on to mention his meetings with the hostages’ families. He praised the people of Israel, spoke about Yerushalayim, and quoted the posuk, “Seek peace and pursue it,” and the Divine promise to the Jewish people, asserting that he believes that peace with additional Arab countries is on the horizon.
“I want to thank you all once again for this exceptional honor,” the president of the United States concluded. “This has been truly an honor. It’s seldom that a president is invited to do this. I love Israel, and I’m with you all the way. You’ll be bigger, better, stronger, and more loving than ever before. Thank you very much. G-d bless you, G-d bless the United States of America, and G-d bless the Middle East. Thank you, everybody. Good luck. Thank you very much. Thank you.”
The session was gaveled closed at 3:14 p.m., and everyone was asked to remain seated until Trump left the room. A few of the chareidi MKs had quietly left early; after all, Yom Tov was coming.
