Trump Set to Become 4th President to Address Israel’s Parliament–What to Know

 ‘The visit of the U.S. president ... is accompanied by great emotion and expectation,’ an Israeli Ministry of Defense official said.

Israelis walk past a U.S. flag in the heart of Jerusalem ahead of the arrival of U.S. President Donald Trump, on Oct. 12, 2025. Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images

EL AVIV—The Israeli Ministry of Defense announced that it has completed preparations to receive U.S. President Donald Trump at Ben Gurion Airport early on the morning of Oct. 13. A roughly 160-foot red carpet has been laid out at the center of the ceremonial plaza, alongside a platform for reporters and photographers, and dozens of Israeli and U.S. flags are flying.

At 11 a.m. local time (4 a.m. EDT), a trumpet fanfare will announce the president’s entrance into the Knesset plenum.

Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address the assembly in a special session convened in Trump’s honor. Their speeches will be followed by the U.S. president’s speech.

So far, only three U.S. presidents have addressed the Israeli parliament: President Jimmy Carter in 1979, President Bill Clinton in 1994, and President George W. Bush in 2008.

As part of preparations for the state visit, the Knesset building has been illuminated in the colors of both nations’ flags—blue, white, and red. Interior screens will display messages in both Hebrew and English, featuring a special event logo designed for the occasion. Two viewing areas have been designated for guests inside the building, and the event will be broadcast live via satellite worldwide.

“The visit of the U.S. president, against the backdrop of the framework for the release of our abductees, is accompanied by great emotion and expectation,” said Erez Tsidon, head of the Amun division of the Ministry of Defense, which is responsible for the reception. “Members of the Amun division have been working around the clock in recent days to ensure everything goes according to plan and that the event proceeds successfully and with dignity.”

On Oct. 11, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir conducted a field tour in the Gaza Strip with U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and the commander of U.S. Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, among other senior commanders. Afterward, they visited the facility at the Re’im base that will receive returning hostages.

Senior Israeli political sources told Epoch Magazine in Israel that the agreement to implement the first phase of the Trump-brokered peace plan is a historic accord, representing the achievement of one of the war’s principal goals—the release of the last of the hostages taken by the Hamas terrorist group on Oct. 7, 2023.

The sources said the agreement is a direct result of Israeli military pressure on Hamas in the Gaza Strip and of the considerable assistance and backing of Trump, who succeeded in assembling an Arab-Islamic coalition to apply pressure on Hamas.

The return of all Israeli hostages, both living and dead, will immediately strip Hamas of its main leverage against Israel.

The next stage of the deal is expected to be the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, and in practice, Hamas will no longer remain a functioning governing body in the Gaza Strip—although it is not yet clear whether Hamas will agree to the U.S. plan for this part.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote in a post on X early on Oct. 12: “Israel’s great challenge after the phase of returning the hostages will be the destruction of all of Hamas’s terror tunnels in Gaza, directly by the IDF and through the international mechanism to be established under the leadership and supervision of the United States.

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