Joe Biden has praised Donald Trump for his success in negotiating a peace deal which allowed the 20 remaining Hamas survivors to return home.
But he also tried to take some credit for the monumental deal, claiming his administration had laid the groundwork for Trump to negotiate.
‘The road to this deal was not easy. My Administration worked relentlessly to bring hostages home, get relief to Palestinian civilians, and end the war,’ Biden said in a statement to X on Monday.
‘I commend President Trump and his team for their work to get a renewed ceasefire deal over the finish line.
‘I am deeply grateful and relieved that this day has come – for the last living 20 hostages who have been through unimaginable hell and are finally reunited with their families and loved ones.’
Biden said he was also overjoyed ‘for the civilians in Gaza who have experienced immeasurable loss and will finally get the chance to rebuild their lives.
‘Now, with the backing of the United States and the world, the Middle East is on a path to peace that I hope endures and a future for Israelis and Palestinians alike with equal measures of peace, dignity, and safety.’
Trump visited Israel on Monday to celebrate the return of the 20 surviving hostages after helping to broker the peace deal.
Former President Joe Biden has praised Donald Trump for his success in negotiating a peace deal which allowed the 20 remaining Hamas survivors to return home
Supporters gathered in the streets to celebrate their hostages coming home
Trump has been hailed a hero in Israel as Israelis celebrate the release of the hostages
He later addressed a peace summit with global leaders where he called for a new era of harmony in the Middle East.
‘We have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to put the old feuds and bitter hatreds behind us,’ Trump said, and he urged leaders ‘to declare that our future will not be ruled by the fights of generations past.’
The whirlwind trip, which included the summit in Egypt and a speech at the Knesset in Jerusalem earlier in the day, comes at a fragile moment of hope for ending two years of war between Israel and Hamas.
‘Everybody said it’s not possible to do. And it’s going to happen. And it is happening before your very eyes,’ Trump said alongside Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.
Nearly three dozen countries, including some from Europe and the Middle East, were represented at the summit. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was invited but declined, with his office saying it was too close to a Jewish holiday.
Trump promised to help rebuild Gaza, and he urged Palestinians to ‘turn forever from the path of terror and violence.’
‘After tremendous pain and death and hardship,’ he said, ‘now is the time to concentrate on building their people up instead of trying to tear Israel down.’
Israeli lawmakers chanted Trump’s name and gave him standing ovation after standing ovation. Some people in the audience wore red hats that resembled his “Make America Great Again” caps, although these versions said “Trump, The Peace President.”
Trump visited Israel on Monday to celebrate the return of the 20 surviving hostages after helping to broker the peace deal
The 20 living hostages who have been holed up with Hamas for more than two years were released this week after Trump’s deal
Trump spoke at a Peace Summit where he vowed to help Gaza rebuild
But Trump also took the opportunity to lay blame on former Democratic presidents for their failure to stabilize the region.
‘All of the countries in the Middle East that could have what we’re doing now, it could have happened a long time ago, but it was strangled and set back almost irretrievably by the administrations of Barack Obama and then Joe Biden,’ Trump said.
‘There was a hatred towards Israel.’
‘Nobody asked Joe Biden to come up and speak, I guarantee you that,’ he added.
Trump is just the fourth president to address the Knesset; former presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were also given the honor.
‘We had a very weak administration. Worst president in the history of our country by far, and Barack Obama was not far behind, by the way,’ Trump said, referring to Biden.
Biden’s praise came in the form of an X post on Monday evening
The 79-year-old president also tore into Obama for striking the Iran nuclear deal that allowed the US adversary to expand its fledgling nuclear programs, which, according to US intelligence, was also attempting to make a nuclear bomb.
‘The setbacks really started when President Obama signed the Iran nuclear deal,’ Trump told the Knesset. ‘This was a disaster for Israel, and it was a disaster for everyone.’
Trump’s former presidential competitor Hillary Clinton also praised the deal at the weekend.
‘It’s a really significant first step and I really commend Trump and his administration,’ Clinton said on CBS News.
