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NETANYAHU’S BELLICOSE CONGRESSIONAL ADDRESS DRAWS SCORN  
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Blaise Malley
July 24, 2024
Responsible Statecraft
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_ 'Our enemies are your enemies,' the prime minister insisted,
setting up confrontation with Iran. He didn’t present as someone on
the verge of signing a ceasefire deal to end the war and free the
Israeli and American hostages. _

Benjamin Netanyahu addresses Congress, July 24., Photo: Craig
Hudson/Reuters // The Telegraph

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spent a major portion of his
hour-long speech to the U.S. Congress on Wednesday lecturing the
American people about how they should think and react to Israel’s
war on Gaza.

Furthermore, he didn’t present as someone on the verge of signing a
ceasefire deal to end the war and free the Israeli and American
hostages, as suggested by U.S. officials last month
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as recently as Friday, when Secretary of State Antony Blinken said
that such a deal was “inside the 10-yard line
[[link removed].].”
Instead the prime minister seemed intent on digging in until “total
victory” in the war, which according to the Gaza health ministry has
now killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians
[[link removed]].

“[Hamas] actually want Palestinian civilians to die so that Israel
will be smeared in the international media and be pressured to end the
war before it's won. This would enable Hamas to survive another
day,” the prime minister said.

“Israel will fight until we destroy Hamas' military capabilities,
end its rule in Gaza and bring all our hostages home. That's what
total victory means, and we will settle for nothing less,” he added.

Netanyahu spent the first portion of his speech recounting the events
of October 7, thanking the United States government for its support,
and castigating American college presidents and students protesting
against Israel’s policies, equating their criticism with
antisemitism.

“The outrageous slanders that paint Israel as racist and genocidal
are meant to delegitimize Israel, to demonize the Jewish state and to
demonize Jews everywhere,” he said. “And no wonder, no wonder,
we've witnessed an appalling rise of antisemitism in America and
around the world.”

He wagged a finger at critics, suggesting they had no moral clarity.

“My friends, defeating our brutal enemies requires both courage and
clarity. Clarity begins by knowing the difference between good and
evil,” he said. “Yet incredibly, many anti-Israel protesters, many
choose to stand with evil. They stand with Hamas. They stand with
rapists and murderers.”

Moving on, he called university administrators who did not immediately
condemn the protests “befuddled,” and — sounding like many of
the congressional supporters of Israel who had dragged college
presidents before hearings earlier this year — he mocked the
students.

“They not only get an F in geography, they get an F in history,”
Netanyahu said. “They call Israel a colonialist state. Don't they
know that the land of Israel is where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
prayed, where Isaiah and Jeremiah preached, and where David and
Solomon ruled.”

Not surprisingly, he later framed the conflict as one that pitted Tel
Aviv and Washington against Tehran and what he called its “axis of
terror.”

“Iran understands that to truly challenge America, it must first
conquer the Middle East, and for this, it uses its many proxies,
including the Houthis, Hezbollah and Hamas. Yet in the heart of the
Middle East, standing in Iran's way is one proud pro American
democracy, my country, the State of Israel.”

“When we fight Hezbollah, we're fighting Iran,” he continued.
“When we fight the Houthis, we're fighting Iran. And when we fight
Iran, we're fighting the most radical and murderous enemy of the
United States of America. And one more thing, when Israel acts to
prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, nuclear weapons that
could destroy Israel and threaten every American city, every city that
you come from, we're not only protecting ourselves, We're protecting
you.”

“Our enemies are your enemies,” he added. “Our fight is your
fight, and our victory will be your victory.”

Netanyahu also praised the Israeli military for going above and beyond
in protecting civilians and delivering humanitarian aid in Gaza,
saying that if Gazans were not getting enough aid, it was “not
because Israel is blocking it, it's because Hamas is stealing it.”

His comments drew immediate fire.

“Israel is clearly blocking humanitarian aid,” the Quincy
Institute’s Annelle Sheline says.

“Even the State Department acknowledged this internally, but changed
its assessment before the report went public, prompting career State
Department employee Stacy Gilbert to resign in protest.” Sheline
previously worked at the State Department before resigning in protest
of Washington’s Gaza policy herself in March.

Netanyahu also claimed that the ratio of combatant to noncombatant
deaths was remarkably low, particularly in the densely populated city
of Rafah, which President Joe Biden warned him against invading.

Sheline called this claim “one of Netanyahu’s most blatant
deceptions”

“The Israeli military’s operations in Rafah resulted in some of
the most nauseating images of an unprecedentedly brutal conflict,
including a man holding the mangled body of a headless child, flames
consuming the tents behind him,” Sheline said. “The Rafah Tent
massacre of May 26 was only one of the horrors inflicted on Rafah,
where the majority of the population of Gaza had fled.”

The reception inside the room, however, was largely positive, with
Netanyahu receiving multiple standing ovations from members of
Congress. Notable exceptions to this included Rep. Rashida Tlaib
(D-Mich.) who waved a small sign reading “War Criminal” and
“Guilty of Genocide” on each side, as well as relatives of
hostages in Gaza who wore t-shirts that read “Seal the deal now”
(one of them was reportedly arrested
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While Netanyahu said in his remarks that he was working tirelessly to
free the hostages, their relatives offered a different opinion during
a roundtable
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members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday.

Outside of the doors of the Capitol, tens of thousands gathered to
protest the Israeli prime minister’s speech. Several individuals and
organizations scheduled counter-programming
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offer their own analysis on Israel’s war. These events included one
hosted by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the chair of the
Congressional Progressive Caucus. Other members, including former
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) skipped the speech to instead meet
with the families of Israeli-Americans still held hostage in Gaza.

Jayapal and Pelosi were among the 56 members of Congress (11 Senators
and 45 House members) to publicly announce
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would skip the speech, either to protest or because of a prior
commitment. By the count of one journalist
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the room, roughly half both of the Democratic Senate and House caucus
were absent.

Much of the opposition from Democrats focused on Netanyahu’s
obstruction of efforts to achieve a durable ceasefire, his objection
to a two-state solution and the political dimensions of the speech,
both back in Israel and domestic politics in the U.S.

Some used the opportunity of Netanyahu’s speech to repeat calls to
cut off arms transfers to Israel.

“Netanyahu should not be welcomed into the United States Congress.
On the contrary, his policies in Gaza and the West Bank and his
refusal to support a two-state solution should be roundly
condemned,” said
[[link removed]] Sen. Bernie
Sanders (I-Vt.) “In my view, his right-wing, extremist government
should not receive another nickel of U.S. taxpayer support to continue
the inhumane destruction of Gaza.”

“Instead of platforming a war criminal, Congress should be imposing
an arms embargo and using its leverage to force Netanyahu to end the
bombing and bloodshed that has already killed over 39,000 Palestinians
and failed to ensure the safe release of the vast majority of
hostages, all while decimating schools, homes, and humanitarian
convoys,” added
[[link removed]] Rep. Cori Bush
(D-Mo.)

Prior to the speech, reports said that a flood of important political
developments in the United States, including the assassination attempt
on former President Donald Trump and the announcement that Biden would
no longer seek his party’s nomination and almost certainly be
replaced on the ticket by Vice President Kamala Harris,
had distracted from
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visit. Both Harris and Republican Vice Presidential nominee J.D.
Vance, Senator from Ohio, missed the speech due to campaign
commitments.

Netanyahu will meet with Harris, as well as Biden
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in private on Thursday. The Israeli prime minister will also travel
to Mar-a-Lago
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Friday to meet with Trump.

_[BLAISE MALLEY is a reporter for Responsible Statecraft. He is a
former associate editor at The National Interest and
reporter-researcher at The New Republic. His writing has appeared in
The New Republic, The American Prospect, The American Conservative,
and elsewhere.]_

* Benjamin Netanyahu
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* Israel
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* Gaza
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* Iran
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* Israel-Gaza War
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* Palestine
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* Palestinians
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* war crimes
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* Ceasefire
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* Hostages
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* Hamas
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* Genocide
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* Rafah
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* IDF
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* Congress
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* U.S.-Israel relations
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* U.S.-Israel military aid
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* Joe Biden
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* Kamala Harris
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* Donald Trump
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