It was a speech unlike any other President Trump has delivered.

After freeing the Hamas hostages – a moment of pure joy – he spent most of his address to the Israeli parliament praising others.

There was constant applause at the Knesset in Jerusalem yesterday as Trump invoked "the almighty God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" – and then hailed more modern figures.

Bibi Netanhayu. Marco Rubio. Pete Hegseth. Jared Kushner (mentioning that his daughter Ivanka had converted to Judaism to marry him). Various generals. And Steve Witkoff – he went on and on about the talents of his Mideast envoy and his four-hour meeting with Vladimir Putin.

TRUMP CALLS FOR NETANYAHU PARDON AFTER HAILING SWIFT REMOVAL OF LEFT-WING LAWMAKERS BY SECURITY

The president also said he’d gotten invaluable help from Arab and Muslim nations as he envisioned "peace, God willing, for all eternity."

All eternity is a long time – and while Trump didn’t exactly land on an aircraft carrier with a Mission Accomplished banner, à la George W. Bush, he explicitly said he views the war as over.

Watching the Israeli footage of some of the 20 freed hostages tearfully embracing family members, it was impossible not to be moved. Even when watching it a second or third time, given the horrifying ordeal they have endured. If your heart wasn’t stuck in your throat, you don’t have a heart.

As Trump loosened up and began ad-libbing, the message was clear: He was the one who had orchestrated this peace deal. He was also careful to blame the war on the "heinous" Oct. 7 massacre by the Hamas terrorists, causing the greatest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust. 

Still, Trump couldn’t restrain himself from taking partisan shots at Joe Biden and Barack Obama. 

He really went off-script late in the hourlong speech by turning to Israel’s president and suggesting he give Netanyahu a pardon. Bibi is the defendant in a long-running corruption trial that has been dragged out in part because of the two-year war.

I was among the first to observe last week that Trump’s international peacemaking was in stark contrast to his refusal to negotiate with Democrats to end the government shutdown that has stretched into its second week. Peace abroad but not at home. But right now the red-hot media spotlight is on the Mideast.

When Trump was running out of people to thank, he praised Israel’s opposition leader, Yair Lapid. And he spotted Miriam Adelson, the widow of billionaire Sheldon Adelson, and coaxed her into standing up, as they regularly visited Trump on Israel’s behalf. 

You know who is praising Trump? Hillary Clinton. Rahm Emanuel. Condoleezza Rice. Biden national security adviser Jake Sullivan. John Fetterman (You know who won’t mention his name? Obama, called out by CNN).

TRUMP HERALDS 'GOLDEN AGE OF THE MIDDLE EAST' IN ADDRESS TO ISRAELI KNESSET HOURS AFTER HOSTAGES COME HOME

Trump was even drawing plaudits on MSNBC from the likes of Jon Meacham and Ben Rhodes, at least for the short-term win.

One can detest a president of the other party, or other ideological divide, and still applaud when he does something that’s good for America and the world. 

Trump knows full well the difficulties ahead, which is why he left for Egypt to sign the deal and conduct further negotiations with Arab leaders.

On CNN, on MSNBC, on Fox, which got an exclusive pull-aside interview with Trump, the tone was much the same – upbeat, celebratory, filled with praise, but also wary of what comes next – and those are fair journalistic questions.

Some former Israeli officials and journalists said this could have been achieved a year or 18 months ago, but that Netanyahu wanted to keep fighting. Trump agreed that Netanyahu wanted to keep fighting, calling him a tough man to deal with, and forced him to accept the peace plan by threatening to walk away. He even forced Bibi to apologize to Qatar for attacking the exiled Hamas leadership there. Without almost breaking Bibi’s arm, none of this would have happened. 

Check this out: Trump said in Egypt: "I want to thank the media, you’ve been so respectful," that he had listened to various newscasts on Air Force One, and they had been "all fair." Wowza.

This was during a pull-aside interview with Fox’s Trey Yingst, who’s been my guest so many times. "You are a real professional — not because it’s good or bad, you’re just really professional," Trump told him. "It would be great if other people could do what you do because they put negative spin" on the news.

Among other things, Trump said he wants to make a deal with Iran – which would horrify many Israelis – but spoke only briefly about the Council of Peace, which he would head and which would include Arab and European leaders. The U.S. would contribute 200 troops based outside Gaza. 

Taking press questions with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Trump projected optimism about Phase 2 of the process. But he knows it’s no cakewalk, to borrow a phrase from a Bush defense adviser, Ken Adelman, whose Washington Post op-ed said "Cakewalk in Iraq" – and the resulting quagmire turned out to be anything but.

The question of who will run Gaza, and whether what remains of Hamas will turn in their weapons, is very much up in the air.

The strip has largely been reduced to rubble. What the region needs, more than military guarantees, is money, from the wealthier Arab nations. 

With 2 million Palestinians having been displaced or lost their homes, will the top priority be building housing? Or will it be putting up hotels, to attract tourists? It’s hard to imagine many people taking vacations there for years to come.

In urging Israeli President Isaac Herzog to pardon Netanyahu, Trump said: "Cigars and Champagne, who the hell cares about that?"

The prime minister has delayed the trial through stalling tactics and diplomatic moves related to the war. He says the whole thing is a left-wing plot against his right-wing government, if that sounds familiar.

Israeli prosecutors say he exchanged regulatory favors with media big-shots for positive coverage, and 140 witnesses, including former aides, have testified against him.

In one case, Bibi and his wife Sara are charged with accepting $260,000 worth of luxury goods, including the cigars, bubbly and jewelry, for political favors.

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In urging Herzog to pardon Netanyahu, Israelis were stunned, and said it could never happen because if such a pardon did magically materialize, it would require an admission of guilt by the prime minister. 

Look, the 47th president says and does plenty of things that are strange, self-serving, hyperpartisan, infuriating or factually challenged.

Here’s an example from Truth Social:

"THE BIDEN FBI PLACED 274 AGENTS INTO THE CROWD ON JANUARY 6. If this is so, which it is, a lot of very good people will be owed big apologies. What a SCAM - DOSOMETHING!!! President DJT."

The problem? There was no Biden FBI on Jan. 6, 2021–Trump was still president! Hard to see how he could make that mistake.

Still, Trump is talking about a "golden age for Israel and the Middle East," which is a great goal. No other president could have pulled this off, and he richly deserves the praise. But the larger goal, a long-term peace in the volatile region, for the moment, remains a dream.