From ‘kill, kill, kill’ to a ‘new Middle East’: Trump, Netanyahu outline vision for region

“Like Bibi said: peace through strength — that’s what it’s all about,” United States President Donald Trump said on Monday as he addressed a Knesset roaring with cheers and whoops for his visit, that of “the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House,” as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put it.

The leaders’ addresses at the Israeli parliament, lasting almost two hours in total, were filled with Biblical and Talmudic references, triumph, praise and personal shoutouts to each of the American and Israeli architects of both the genocidal war on Gaza and the new era of proclaimed peace, a vision that remained vague in all details in their speeches except when related to plans to elicit substantial funding from regional actors.

In successive speeches, Netanyahu and Trump laid out a vision for what they both called the “new Middle East,” a story of peace wrought by a partnership of sheer force.

Netanyahu began with repeated thanks to Trump, proclaimed as the “peace president” on red, MAGA-style caps distributed in the Knesset hall. Trump, the Israeli prime minister said, had achieved for Israel what no US president had ever done before, from recognizing Jerusalem as the Israeli capital to granting official recognition to the Syrian Golan Heights.

Netanyahu gestured to the length and breadth of his three decades at the forefront of Israeli politics as he said that other presidents were,“not even a match.”

Trump returned the praise, stating that now is an “exciting time for Israel,” having vanquished all the “chaos, terror and ruin” in the region, from Gaza to Lebanon to Yemen to Iran.

As Trump explained between standing ovations, Israel’s triumph was largely backed by US weapons.

“Bibi called so many times, can you get me this weapon and that weapon,” he said, later listing some of the weapons the US arsenal entailed, from B52’s to F-16’s to F-35’s, while Netanyahu pointed to moments of direct US intervention to eliminate leaders of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, its strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, and even went as far back as 2020, referencing the assassination of Qassem Soliemani under Trump’s first administration.

“And you used [US weapons] well,” Trump added, turning to Netanyahu from the podium. “Israel became so strong and powerful and that’s what led to peace.”

With Israeli might, armed by the US, the war could have continued for years if Netanyahu wanted, according to Trump. But part of the new era he sketched was one in which Israel would embark upon ventures less likely to prompt international reaction. “For months the world wanted peace, Israel wanted peace. So I told Bibi it can’t go on like that, kill kill kill.”

“This is not only the end of a war, this is the end of an age of terror and death,” he said. “It is the start of a grand concord and lasting harmony for Israel and all the nations of what will soon be a truly magnificent region — this is the dawn of a new Middle East.”

Beyond describing this new age as one of “faith and hope, and of God,” Trump didn’t expand extensively on what the coming era will consist of.

He repeated his enthusiasm for “the Board of Peace,” the multinational command he envisioned as leading post-war Gaza in the 20-point plan released by the White House at the end of September.

But speaking to reporters in the presidential flight press pool before landing in Tel Aviv, Trump downplayed other aspects of the plan, which, alongside threats that Netanyahu would “finish the job” by force, rekindled talks toward the prisoner exchange that began Monday morning.

Trump dismissed questions about the Gaza Riviera dreams outlined by consultants and which he has mentioned previously as part of Gaza’s future, gesturing instead toward the priority of Gaza’s reconstruction, expressing uncertainty as to whether former United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was named personally as a Board of Peace member in the 20 points, has the collective approval required for the job.

His speech did not elaborate on who will assume security and administrative control of the Gaza Strip, a more contentious part of upcoming talks on what comes after the prisoner exchange phase.

The most direct reference to the future came from a protestor who broke into the Knesset near the outset of Trump’s speech to raise a call for Palestinian state recognition, only to be quickly expelled from the hall in a security maneuver Trump described as “efficient” to applause and laughter.

He did promise, however, that many unnamed wealthy “Arab and Muslim countries” would be ready to pay large amounts of money toward Gaza’s reconstruction and establishing the new regional order. “They want to put as much as money as needed,” he said, “and it will be a lot, more than you imagine, but relatively little for them.”

Trump promised peace as a gateway to shared economic prosperity, saying countries in the region, including Israel, should work on building the infrastructure needed to merge their economies. He also gave substantial praise by name to Israeli-American billionaire Miriam Adelson, who was seated in the Knesset hall as part of the audience observing his address.

On the receiving end of Trump’s praise were also the four Arab signatories of the Abraham Accord, who he commended for weathering the two years of war without pulling out of the deal and making a lot of money out of it, while also encouraging the rest of the region to sign up to the deal and all it could offer them.

The peaceful future envisioned appeared to rest largely on the shoulders of the two men who took to the Knesset podium. In what Trump later said was an unscripted moment, he asked the Israeli president to pardon Netanyahu for the corruption charges he faces, receiving a response of cheers and laughter.

Netanyahu also seemed sure of maintaining his position as prime minister while speaking before Trump, saying he looks forward to “striking new peace agreements” under the Abraham Accords with countries in the region and Muslim countries further afield under Trump’s leadership.

The speeches in Jerusalem, which lasted for almost two hours in total, came alongside several jokes about the American president’s tardiness to the summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, where the king of Bahrain, one of the Abraham Accords signatories, was waiting for Trump’s arrival, already several hours behind schedule.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was also there, waiting alongside leaders from Doha, Amman, Istanbul, Paris and Berlin.

The summit began on Monday evening, with Trump departing Israel directly for South Sinai.

Neither Palestinian nor Israeli representatives were due to join the summit — until the Egyptian presidency announced this morning that both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas would join the proceedings.

Netanyahu’s office later issued a statement, however, declining the invitation with thanks due to “time constraints ahead of the start of the holiday.”