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Israel’s Parliament Celebrates Its 75th Birthday as War Rages
Israeli Defense Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz addresses the Knesset, in Jerusalem, May 17, 2020. Photo: Adina Valman / Knesset spokespersons’ office / Handout via Reuters.
Israel’s Knesset celebrated its 75th year anniversary in a special session at Israel’s parliament building in Jerusalem, with politicians vowing victory while also trading punches.
“We will continue to strive with determination to defeat the enemy that stands before us and in doing so we will fulfill the wishes of our dear sons,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He added that “the image of the IDF destroying the parliament building in Gaza is a strong and important image of victory, and the establishment of the Knesset on this day is also a victory. Every democracy, big or small, is put to the test during the war and even in the current test we will stand together and win. Every day we prove to our enemies that they were very wrong. We suffered a very hard blow on October 7, but we got back on our feet very quickly.”
Israel’s Knesset, meaning “gathering” in English, first convened on February 14, 1949, also the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shevat, which begins Wednesday evening. As is the case with most holidays in Israel, the dates are marked according to the Hebrew calendar instead of the Gregorian calendar.
President Isaac Herzog spoke, telling those gathered “On the birthday of the Knesset of Israel, the temple of our democracy, it is important for me to emphasize that unity is not uniformity, unity is not gagging, unity is not the cessation of discussion and debate on matters that concern the core of the state’s existence. The legislators are the temple of Israeli debate and discussion, and the space for making the decisions that have the most impact on our lives. That’s how it was, and that’s how it will be.”
Pointing to the political turmoil that preceded the war, the president added ”This house will soon hold the most important and stormy debates there are. On war and peace, on the day before and after, on security, economy and society… it is forbidden to return to the conversation of October 6.”
The Knesset was the first sovereign Jewish governing body in the land of Israel since the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the year 70 CE. Currently in its 25th governing coalition, Israel’s legislative body is parliamentary, meaning that voters choose parties instead of candidates, and the leaders of those parties are then tasked with forming a coalition government comprising members of their own parties and others. The leader of the Knesset is the prime minister, currently Benjamin Netanyahu.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid took shots at the government, saying “What is there to celebrate? The political system is not the solution, it is the problem… How did we get to a situation where the citizens of Israel feel that we have lost control and no one is taking care of it? Israel will win the war, but the victory is not only in the fact that we kill Sinwar, it is in the fact that we are better to each other, as a nation. We know today that the fact that we did not change led to the greatest disaster in our history.”
The Speaker of the Knesset Amir Ohana added at the event “The Knesset’s 75th birthday is not a happy one. The nation of Israel is in one of its most difficult moments, fighting for its right to life and security, to peace and tranquility.” He asked those in attendance to honor the soldiers’ and civilians who have perished since the war’s outbreak on October 7, when thousands of Hamas terrorists stormed southern Israel, killing over 1,200 and taking hostage more than 240, with a minute of silence.
Concluding, he quoted a fallen soldier: “‘Perhaps I fell in battle,’ wrote Elkanah Wiesel of Bnei Dekalim who fell this week. ‘Don’t be sad when you part with me. Please be optimistic. Keep choosing life all the time. A life of love, hope, purity, and optimism.’ This house was not always characterized by all these. Shall we consider, all of us, to agree to the prayer of a fallen soldier, to strengthen each other?”
The post Israel’s Parliament Celebrates Its 75th Birthday as War Rages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.