U.S. President Donald Trump took Israel’s population out of collective trauma during his Knesset speech in Jerusalem last week, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said on Tuesday.
“You took ten million people out of trauma and put them on your shoulders and told them you won,” Friedman told the Knesset’s Christian Allies Caucus, recounting what he told the president shortly after his speech in the Israeli parliament. “That’s what a whole nation needed to hear, and you delivered it to them.”
Friedman, who served as U.S. envoy during Trump’s first administration and was back in Jerusalem for the Oct. 13 presidential address, called it “the most important speech of my lifetime.”
Israelis knew they would win the war against Hamas but were unsure “how, when and under what circumstances,” he said.
Tuesday’s event, a celebration of the faith-based diplomacy that the two-decade-old parliamentary caucus spearheads, came just days after the last 20 living hostages were released by Hamas as part of the first stage of Trump’s peace plan.
“How often do you say a fervent prayer and watch it come true?” said Friedman.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told the packed gathering that Hamas could “very easily” return the majority of the remaining bodies it is still holding, but was releasing them in a trickle in order to torture the families and to waste time in getting to the second stage of the agreement, which requires the terrorist group to disarm.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who was due to deliver the keynote address to the gathering, had to cancel his attendance due to the visit to Israel of U.S. Vice President JD Vance.
“When faith is combined with courage, miracles materialize,” Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana told the gathering. “By standing with us and advocating for Israel, you have become part of the story and part of the miracle.”
“Faith-based diplomacy is why we have embassies in Jerusalem, why we have anti-BDS legislation, legislation against antisemitism, and even observer status at the African Union,” said Josh Reinstein, director of the Knesset’s Christian Caucus. “The Trump administration is made up of the who’s who of faith-based diplomacy.”
