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 and as recently as Friday, when Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that such a deal was “inside the 10-yard line.” 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.
“[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 for it.)
While Netanyahu said in his remarks that he was working tirelessly to free the hostages, their relatives offered a different opinion during a roundtable with 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 to 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 that they would skip the speech, either to protest or because of a prior commitment. By the count of one journalist who was in 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 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 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 Netanyahu’s 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, in private on Thursday. The Israeli prime minister will also travel to Mar-a-Lago on 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.]
