Two lawmakers from the Communist Party of Israel were hauled out of the Knesset—Israel’s parliament—on Monday as U.S. President Donald Trump spoke before the legislative body. Ayman Odeh and Ofer Cassif were expelled for holding up signs that read, “Recognize Palestine!”
The two were dragged from the chamber by security while the parliamentarians of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing right-wing coalition chanted, “Trump! Trump! Trump!”
In a statement provided to the press afterward, Odeh said, “I was removed from the plenary only because I raised the simplest demand, a demand that the entire international community agrees on: Recognize a Palestinian state.”
Odeh is the chair of the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality, known as Hadash. The electoral coalition promotes Arab-Jewish cooperation and backs a two-state solution. It includes members of the Communist Party and other left parties.
Odeh said the action he and his colleague took was intended to point out a basic reality which must be the starting point for any lasting peace: “There are two peoples here, and no one is moving.”
Cassif, who is the only Jewish Communist member of the Knesset, has been the target of multiple attempts by the prime minister and his allies to remove him from office. He’s been arrested and accused of treason over his protests against illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and for his accusations that the State of Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.
“Trump came to the Knesset to deliver a victory speech, a speech full of self-glorification and lies,” Cassif told the press after his expulsion from the event.
He emphasized that the achievement of a ceasefire in Gaza between the Israeli military and Hamas was not something Trump deserves credit for. Instead, Cassif said, the U.S. leader has actually been responsible for the prolongation of the killing in Gaza ever since he returned to office.
“Although it is a positive step that the genocide has ended and the hostages are being released, we must not be confused: Trump has been a supporter of this genocide from day one and an active partner in it since the beginning of his term as president.”
Cassif said the media must stick to the facts in its reporting on the ceasefire agreement and the true role played by Trump.
“We must not forget that Trump was the one who said: ‘You are talking about a million and a half people [in Gaza], and you are simply cleaning this whole place up,’ and also ‘According to my plan, the Gazans will move to another place permanently, and will not be able to return.’
“He also explicitly threatened that the gates of hell would open on Gaza. With his full support for the murderous government, he not only allowed the genocide to continue, but also the continued abandonment and neglect of the [Israeli] hostages.”
Trump acknowledged that the continued rampage in Gaza by Israeli forces had only been possible thanks to U.S. approval and assistance. In his speech, the president said, “Bibi [Netanyahu] would call me so many times, ‘Can you get me this weapon, that weapon, that weapon?’ Some of them I never heard of…but we’d get them here, wouldn’t we, huh?” Trump then answered his own question: “You used them well.”
Cassif argued that it was “only when Israel became too crazy, chaotic, and unstable to serve his imperialist interests” that Trump decided to put an end to the bloodshed. He further disputed Trump’s claims to be a man of peace by turning the spotlight toward the president’s record at home in the U.S.
“A man who sends soldiers to invade his own cities, arrest and abuse his own people—in addition to his imperialist measures—certainly has no shred of concern for either the Israeli or the Palestinian people,” Cassif said. “Only a just peace, based on the two-state solution and full self-determination for the Palestinian people, can bring stability and prosperity between the river and the sea—not the imperialist projects of a crazy narcissistic dictator and a serial sex offender.”
In his speech on Monday, Trump characterized the two-year campaign of extermination in Gaza as a victory for Israel—and himself.
“What a victory it’s been,” he said. “The timing of this [ceasefire] is brilliant. And I said, ‘Bibi, you’re gonna be remembered for this far more than if you kept this thing going, going, going; kill, kill, kill.”
As Hadash and other international observers have noted, however, Israel was compelled to accept the ceasefire—not only by Trump but by circumstances on the ground. The halt of its assault could arguably be seen as a substantial defeat for Israel in the face of determined Palestinian resistance and the pressure of the global Palestinian solidarity and peace movements.
That didn’t stop Trump from basking in the praise of a friendly audience in the Knesset, though, feigning reluctance when saying that, despite his busy schedule, he will heed the supposed wishes of “every nation involved” who had asked him to be the chair of the “Board of Peace” that will decide Gaza’s future.
Trump is still pushing his “20-point peace plan,” which sees Gaza as a piece of real estate to be redeveloped under his personal control. A “Board of Directors,” which he re-christened the “Board of Peace” on Monday, would have broad powers over life in the Gaza Strip, including security authority.
A “Gaza Investment and Economic Development Promotion Authority” is to be established, which would coordinate investment from the private sector to oversee reconstruction. It would be headed by “professional business people, tasked with creating investable projects with real financial returns,” according to the U.S. and Israeli government-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
In other words, Gaza’s future would be privatized and handed over to the whims of for-profit interests.
Referring to his expulsion from the parliamentary session, Cassif said the goal was not just to disrupt Trump’s self-congratulatory speech.
“We did not come to interfere, but to demand justice. A true peace that will save the two peoples of the land from its misery will only come with the end of the occupation and apartheid and the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.”
Odeh also emphasized the need to make the most of this moment of peace and for the Israeli and Palestinian peoples to be vigilant to ensure the ceasefire holds:
“We fought for two years for this moment, for an end to the war and a comprehensive deal. We are happy, but our joy is mixed with pain from the terrible crimes that were committed and the blood that our land has absorbed. We all deserve to smile.”
With the achievement of a ceasefire, the Hadash chair said the fight for a lasting peace begins now. “We must gather strength to continue…because this is only the beginning of a long road.” Odeh declared that “achieving a comprehensive peace” has to be “based on ending the occupation and respecting the rights of both peoples…because we were all born free.”
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