President Trump’s speech at Israel’s Knesset, its parliament, was briefly interrupted by lawmakers who were expelled from the plenum after shouting slogans during Trump’s remarks.
The Jerusalem Post identified those protesting as Ayman Odeh, an Arab Israeli and member of the Hadash alliance and Ofer Cassif, a far-left politician who is also a member of the Hadash coalition.
Odeh held up a sign that said “Recognize Palestine,” when he was ejected from the room. He later wrote in a post on the social platform X that he is calling for recognition of a Palestinian state as “the simplest demand, a demand that the entire international community agrees on… There are two peoples here, and neither is going anywhere.,” the post read in Hebrew, as translated by X.
Cassif also posted on X that their protest was “to demand justice,” accusing the Israeli government of occupation and apartheid against Palestinians.
“Refuse to be occupiers! Resist the government of bloodshed!” read that post, also translated from Hebrew.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected agreeing to the recognition of a Palestinian state, even as he has signed onto Trump’s 20-point peace plan that is supposed to lead to a sovereign Palestine.
Still, Trump has not joined the majority of the international community in presently recognizing a state of Palestine.
The protest against Trump’s speech came as the president was marking the return to Israel of the last living hostages held by Hamas since they were kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas.
It marked a major milestone in the first phase of a deal to end the fighting in Gaza.
Updated at 8:03 a.m. EDT
