Sam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
A sign outside the Knesset welcoming US President Donald Trump. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)
Lawmakers, visitors and journalists throng the hallways of the Knesset ahead of US President Donald Trump’s speech later this morning. Israel’s parliament building is adorned with Israeli and American flags and electronic signs declaring: “Welcome to the Knesset President Trump.”
Security is tight, with even those holding full-time passes required to obtain special entrance permits and wait in long lines to pass through security screenings. Large groups of police patrol outside, while in the Knesset itself, sections of the building are cordoned off by guards.
In the Knesset synagogue, worshippers joyfully wave the traditional four species — the palm frond, citron, myrtle and bundles of willow branches, referred to in Hebrew as a “lulav and etrog” — as part of a Hoshana Rabba service, the morning prayer held on the last day of the Sukkot festival.
A worker cleans the red carpet ahead of the arrival of US President Donald Trump at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv on October 13, 2025 (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Monday, October 13, 2025
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
