US President Donald Trump praised his daughter Ivanka Trump for her love of Israel, which he said led to her conversion to Judaism, while delivering a speech at the Knesset on Monday, where he was being celebrated for his central role in seeing the return of the hostages.
Ivanka, who accompanied her father and husband to Israel, converted to Judaism prior to marrying Jared Kushner in 2009. Kushner has also played a key role in ending the war in Gaza and securing the release of the hostages, for which he was thanked in Trump’s speech, along with his role in establishing the Abraham Accords.
“Let me also give a special thanks to someone who truly loves Israel, in fact, loves it so much that…my daughter converted [to Judaism],” Trump said. “I didn’t know this was going to happen…and Bibi, you do know this wasn’t in the cards for me, you do understand that.
“She is so happy and they are so happy…they have a great marriage, and they get along great. They are best friends. They have a very special relationship.”
Trump shared with the Knesset that today was the day to “give thanks to the almighty God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
Returning to the discussions on the war’s end, Trump said that a "long nightmare" was finally over for Israelis and Palestinians alike after the first phase of a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal was agreed between Israel and Hamas.
"The forces of chaos that have plagued the region are totally defeated," he said in his speech before Israel's parliament.
The US President, who received a standing ovation from the Knesset, was briefly interrupted by two left-wing politicians, who were booed and subsequently removed from the room.
Unperturbed by the scene, which saw Ayman Odeh and Ofer Cassif hold signs calling for Palestinian statehood, Trump continued by promising that now that the Gaza war was dealt with, his administration would focus its energies on ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Ivanka Trump’s journey to Judaism
Ivanka converted under the instruction of Rabbi Haskel Lookstein of the Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, a Modern Orthodox synagogue on New York's Upper East Side.
In a 2015 Vogue profile, Ivanka said she "always shied away from it being a public conversation because it's such a personal thing."
Despite keeping many of the personal details under wraps, Trump has publicly announced his pride at Ivanka’s decision to live a Jewish life. Ahead of the birth of one of Ivanka and Kushner’s children in 2016, Trump announced to the world that she was "about to have a beautiful Jewish baby."
Ivanka has visited Israel and its many holy sites multiple times, famously taking a trip to the Western Wall with Melania Trump, where she explained the religious significance of the remains.
Along with US Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Kushner, Ivanka visited the Western Wall on Friday, where she prayed for the success of her father's 20-point Gaza peace plan.