Chaos briefly erupted inside Israel’s Knesset on Monday when two lawmakers interrupted US President Donald Trump’s speech — shouting for Palestine’s recognition before being dragged out by security.
Hadash Party leader Ayman Odeh and fellow MP Ofer Cassif were removed from the chamber after holding up signs reading “Recognise Palestine!” during Trump’s address, which celebrated the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire deal.
As the pair stood holding their placards, the Knesset speaker banged the gavel and ordered: “Expel this Knesset member!”
Security officials quickly surrounded the protesters and escorted them out as other lawmakers stood and applauded their removal.
“That was very efficient,” Trump quipped, before smoothly continuing his remarks about his envoy, Steve Witkoff.
Outside, Odeh defended his protest on X (formerly Twitter): “They removed me just because I raised the simplest demand — to recognise a Palestinian state. There are two peoples here, and neither is going anywhere.”
Cassif echoed the sentiment, writing that true peace “will only come with the end of the occupation and apartheid and the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.”
Trump, the first US president since 2008 to address Israel’s parliament, had hailed a “historic dawn for the Middle East” moments before the disruption — marking the Gaza ceasefire and a major exchange of prisoners between Israel and Hamas as part of the peace deal.
