U.S. President Donald Trump was heckled and briefly interrupted by two MPs during an address at Israel’s parliament in Jerusalem, during which he hailed a “historic dawn” for the Middle East.
Ofer Cassif and Ayman Odeh were subsequently dragged out by Israeli security officials, with banners snatched from them. Before being removed, Odeh held up a piece of paper which read: “Recognize Palestine!”
After being thrown out, Odeh wrote on X: “They removed me from the plenum just because I raised the simplest demand, a demand that the entire international community agrees on: To recognise a Palestinian state. “To recognize this simple reality: There are two peoples here, and neither is going anywhere.”
“We didn’t come to disturb, but to demand justice. True peace that will save both peoples of this land from destruction will only come with the end of the occupation and apartheid and the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel,” he wrote on X.
“Refuse to be occupiers! Resist the government of bloodshed!”
Cassif also posted on Facebook a picture of himself in the Knesset reading The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Israeli historian Ilan Pappe.
“During the speech of lies by war criminal Netanyahu – I preferred to read about the truth,” he wrote.
Trump on Monday became only the fourth US president to address Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, and the first since 2008.
He was speaking to mark the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that saw a prisoner exchange take place on Monday.
The president said that Israel “became strong and powerful, which led to peace,” adding: “Israel, with our help, has won all that they can by force of arms.”
He thanked Muslim and Arab nations for their help in bringing about a ceasefire agreement. “It will be the golden age of Israel and the golden age of the Middle East,” he said.
He said that the “entire region” had endorsed a plan to disarm Hamas, and that his administration was “helping” the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah.
He called on countries that do not have ties with Israel to do him “a favor” and “join up in the Abraham Accords”.
Ahead of Trump’s speech, Netanyahu made an address in Hebrew and then English. He thanked Trump for a number of things, including moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, “recognizing Israeli sovereignty” over Syria’s Golan Heights, withdrawing from the Iranian nuclear deal, and standing up for Israel against “lies” at the United Nations.
He also thanked the president for recognizing “our rights in Judea and Samaria”, indicating that Trump supports Israeli control over the occupied West Bank.
The prime minister awarded Trump with the Israel Prize, the Israeli state’s highest cultural honor.
Trump said of Netanyahu: “He’s not the easiest guy to deal with… but that’s what makes him great.”
[ SOURCE: MIDDLE EAST EYE ]
