‘World needs more Trumps’: Israel's Speaker showers praise on US President; assures 2026 Nobel Peace Prize nomination

Having brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and overseen Monday's hostage-detainee exchange, US President Donald Trump received a rousing applause in the Israeli Parliament, with lawmakers greeting the 79-year-old with a two-and-a-half-minute standing ovation.

As Trump took the podium accompanied by special envoy Steve Witkoff, the Knesset erupted in applause, with Israeli parliamentarians cheering the US President for his role in the current cessation of hostilities between Tel Aviv and Hamas.

When the din died down, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana introduced the US President, calling the 79-year-old a "colossus who will be enshrined in the pantheon of history" and declaring Trump as an icon who the Jewish people would remember "thousands of years from now".

Reading out a list of Trump's accomplishments, from recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital to brokering the Abraham Accords and striking Iran's nuclear facilities, Ohana recited the blessing to be said upon seeing a king, The Times of Israel reported.

‘A giant of Jewish history’

"Mr. President, you stand before the people of Israel not as another American president, but as a giant of Jewish history — one for whom we must look back, two and a half millennia into the mists of time to find a parallel, in Cyrus the Great," Ohana continued, heaping praise on the US President, who arrived in Israel on a Monday for brief stop ahead of the Gaza Peace Summit in Egypt.

The reference to Cyrus the Great harked back to the Persian king who allowed Jews to return from exile in Babylon and rebuild their temple in Jerusalem.

Lashing out at recent declarations by world leaders recognizing the state of Palestine, Ohana declared, "What the world needs now is not appeasers who feed the crocodile in the hope that they will be eaten last — like the kind we have seen recently at the UN General Assembly."

"What the world needs now are more leaders who are brave, resolute, strong, and bold. The world needs more Trumps," the Knesset speaker said emphatically, adding that "not a single person" on Earth "did more than you [Trump] to advance peace".

Commenting on the US President missing out on a Nobel Peace Prize despite his self-proclaimed role in stopping several conflicts around the world, Ohana assured Trump that no one was more worthy of the prestigious honor.

Ohana insisted that Trump deserved the award "more than any other individual", adding that he and House Speaker Mike Johnson would "ally speakers and presidents of parliaments from around the world to submit your candidacy" for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize.

"America first but not America alone," Ohana concluded, tipping his hat to Trump's policies.

Ohana's comments come days after Trump missed out on the Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, despite lobbying very pubicly about his worthiness for the award.

Days before the announcement, Trump brokered perhaps the most significant truce in recent times, ending over two years of war between Israel and Hamas, which was sparked by the Palestinian militant group's attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.

With the hostage-detainee exchange between Hamas and Israel having taken place on Monday, Trump's 20-point Gaza peace plan is already in motion and the coming weeks will be crucial for the US President and other parties involved as they seek to ensure a lasting peace in the embattled region.