Congressional address reinforces US support for Israel, Netanyahu’s position as leading statesman Alex Traiman
Amid a disturbing leadership vacuum in the United States and international institutions, moral leadership from the Jewish state is as critical as ever.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress for the fourth time on Wednesday, one more than any other foreign dignitary, surpassing the record of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Netanyahu has reached this milestone for several reasons.
First, it’s due to the importance and strength of the alliance of two of the world’s most consequential democracies in the last 200 years. Second, such a distinction requires the longevity of a leader that has remained in power through the tenures of multiple American presidents. And lastly, a leader would not be invited to return time after time, unless that leader was an exceptional orator and statesman.
Enter Netanyahu.
He arrived amid unprecedented political chaos in the United States, days after President Joe Biden suddenly announced that he would no longer seek re-election and just two weeks after former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt.
He also arrived during an unprecedented crisis in Israel, nine months after the horrific Oct. 7 massacre and an ensuing regional war the Jewish state has been fighting on seven fronts. As the conflict has raged on—and even as Israel has gone to extraordinary efforts in urban warfare to reduce civilian casualties to the barest of minimums—mainstream media and international institutions have attempted to delegitimize Israel and undermine American support for Israel, particularly among liberals with libelous claims of war crimes and genocide.
By the 57 rousing standing ovations in a speech that lasted barely over 60 minutes, Netanyahu clearly reasserted that the overwhelming majority of Americans—or at least, the chosen representatives of the American people—stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel. Every round of applause line hit its mark, and a supermajority of legislators in the room demonstrated again and again that they agreed with nearly every word of the Israeli leader’s speech.
Netanyahu wove in historical parallels, including World War II, and defined the justness of Israel’s fight. He made it clear that Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip is being waged strategically, including a complicated and highly controversial operation in Rafah, where only dozens of civilian casualties were reported as opposed to the “tens of thousands” Israel was warned about prior to military maneuvers. He also touted the authorization of “a breathtaking commando rescue operation” in Rafah to bring home four hostages, further justifying the sending of troops into the southernmost Gazan city.
He introduced one of those hostages, Noa Argamani, in addition to four members of the IDF—each of a different color and faith. Each a hero who went to extraordinary efforts to save lives, with some seriously injured, even losing limbs in battle. He introduced Yechiel Leiter (a former prime ministerial adviser, although Netanyahu did not mention that), who lost a son (himself a father of six) while volunteering. Netanyahu insisted that Yechiel’s son “would not die in vain.”
‘Choose to stand with evil’
Despite the threats of boycotts, disturbances or walkouts, throughout the address, more than 99% of the seats were full, with dozens standing in the back of the plenary, and there was not a single audible protest. Only Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) violated protocol by holding a small two-sided placard throughout the speech. One side said “war criminal,” and the other said “Genocide in Gaza.” Congressional ushers opted not to boot Tlaib from the room so as not to cause a scene. And Netanyahu cleverly opted not to address Tlaib directly.
But he directly addressed the positions held by a visually disturbed Tlaib and all other anti-Israel protesters, including those who removed American flags from DC’s Union Train Station, hanging Palestinian flags in their place.
Netanyahu said that protesters “choose to stand with evil. They stand with Hamas. They stand with rapists and murderers.” In one of the hardest-hitting lines of the address, he asserted that “these protesters that stand with them, they should be ashamed of themselves!”
He pointed out that many of the anti-Israel protests across the United States are funded by Iran. His message for those protesters: “You have officially become Iran’s useful idiots.”
But Netanyahu asserted that “the vast majority of Americans have not fallen for this Hamas propaganda. They continue to support Israel.” This was one of the simplest and among the most important—and potentially one of the most overlooked—messages by Israel detractors.
A major goal of Netanyahu’s speech was to remind Americans, congressmen and senators, in addition to actors across the Middle East and around the world, that America supports Israel.
“If you remember one thing, one thing from this speech, remember this: Our enemies are your enemies, our fight is your fight, and our victory will be your victory,” he said. “And as we defend ourselves on all fronts, I know that America has our back. And I thank you for it. All sides of the aisle. Thank you.”
And he addressed head-on the accusations he made last month that the Biden administration was slowing the transfer of key weapons systems and munitions during the war.
“I deeply appreciate America’s support, including in this current war. But this is an exceptional moment. Fast-tracking U.S. military aid can dramatically expedite an end to the war in Gaza and help prevent a broader war in the Middle East,” adding that “today, as Israel fights on the frontline of civilization, I, too, appeal to America: Give us the tools faster, and we’ll finish the job faster.”
Netanyahu praised Israel’s deep connection to its homeland amid calls from detractors that Israel is 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?” Netanyahu asked. “For nearly 4,000 years, the land of Israel has been the homeland of the Jewish people. It’s always been our home; it will always be our home.”
Giving a lesson on antisemitism, “the world’s oldest hatred,” he noted that what starts with the targeting of Jews is itself a threat to America and implored that “whenever and wherever we see the scourge of antisemitism, we must unequivocally condemn it and resolutely fight it, without exception.”
He called out Ivy League university presidents for saying calls for the genocide of Jews on their campuses were only antisemitic “depend[ing] on the context.” Netanyahu also praised Jewish fraternity brothers from the University of North Carolina for protecting the American flag on their campus.
Speaking to those who want Israel to halt the war in Gaza, Netanyahu was resolute. He said that “the war in Gaza could end tomorrow if Hamas surrenders, disarms and returns all the hostages. But if they don’t, Israel will fight until we destroy Hamas’s military capabilities and its rule in Gaza and bring all our hostages home.”
Then, he added: “That’s what total victory means, and we will settle for nothing less.”
Once Hamas is defeated, Netanyahu said Gaza must be “demilitarized and deradicalized.” He also made clear that the IDF is not leaving Gaza anytime soon, even if the war’s intensive operations will come to a conclusion.
“For the foreseeable future, we must retain overriding security control there to prevent the resurgence of terror, to ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel,” he stated.
As to whether Palestinians can later rule Gaza, Netanyahu offered that “Gaza should have a civilian administration run by Palestinians who do not seek to destroy Israel. That’s not too much to ask. It’s a fundamental thing that we have a right to demand and to receive.”
‘A glimpse of that alliance’
Among the most important calls in the speech was for the creation of an alliance of nations that should include countries that Israel “have made peace with Israel and those that will make peace with Israel” to confront Iran’s malign influence, spread of terrorism and military-grade nuclear ambitions.
Netanyahu said that the region already “saw a glimpse of that alliance” on April 13, when Iran fired more than 300 missiles and explosive-laden drones from its own territory towards Israel. A coalition of countries led by Israel and the United States, but also including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt all participated over a period of several hours to neutralize the threat. Netanyahu thanked U.S. President Joe Biden “for bringing that alliance together.”
He said that the coalition would essentially be “an extension of the groundbreaking Abraham Accords,” which included normalization agreements signed between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan, and suggested that the pact be called the “Abraham Alliance.”
Netanyahu was certain to thank both soon-to-be former President Biden and former President Trump for their contributions to Israel’s well-being.
Netanyahu thanked Biden “for half a century of friendship to Israel and for being, as he says, a proud Zionist.” He also noted Biden’s “tireless efforts on behalf of the hostages and for his efforts to the hostage families,” and his efforts to support and protect Israel during the war.
“I thank President Biden for his heartful support for Israel after the savage attack on Oct. 7. He rightly called Hamas “sheer evil.” He dispatched two aircraft carriers to the Middle East to deter a wider war. And he came to Israel to stand with us during our darkest hour, a visit that will never be forgotten.”
Regarding Trump, whom Netanyahu hopes to recuperate their previously close working relationship, the prime minister thanked the former president “for his leadership in brokering the historic Abraham Accords” in the fall of 2020, as well as “all the things he did for Israel, from recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights to confronting Iran’s aggression, to recognizing Jerusalem as our capital and moving the American embassy there.”
Netanyahu noted that “like Americans, Israelis were relieved that President Trump emerged safe and sound from that dastardly attack on him, dastardly attack on American democracy.” And in a message intended to be delivered both to Americans as well as to Israelis who have increased violent rhetoric in recent years, Netanyahu insisted that “there is no room for political violence in democracies.”
‘Hopeful about the future’
He closed his address insisting to both “Democrats and Republicans” that “despite these times of upheaval, I’m hopeful about the future.”
He said he was hopeful about Israel because despite emerging “from the depths of hell, from dispossession and genocide, and against all odds, we restored our sovereignty in our ancient homeland, we built a powerful and vibrant democracy, a democracy that pushes the boundaries of innovation for the betterment of all humanity.
Regarding the United States, Netanyahu assured that “America will continue to be a force for light and good in a dark and dangerous world. For free peoples everywhere, America remains the beacon of liberty its extraordinary founders envisioned back in 1776.”
Sharing a message to many Americans who may doubt Israel’s commitment to Western values, the prime minister insisted that “Israel will always remain America’s indispensable ally. Through thick and thin, in good times and in bad, Israel will always be your loyal friend and your steadfast partner.”
And while most mainstream media are focusing their attention on the side-show protests outside the Capitol, Netanyahu rocked the main event inside.
In addressing all the key points, with lines designed to keep America’s leaders jumping back to their feet, Netanyahu demonstrated that he is impassioned, emboldened, and still at the top of his game as both a head of state in a complicated period and an unrivaled diplomat.
Much of the media will take the opportunity to quickly gloss over Netanyahu’s latest triumph, with headlines quickly jumping to Biden’s first address to the nation since announcing he will not seek re-election and other 2024 election politics.
And rightly so. But with a disturbing leadership vacuum currently existing in the United States and in international institutions including the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court and others, moral leadership from the Jewish state is as critical as ever.
And Netanyahu once again demonstrated that its longest-serving prime minister, not only remains a worthy candidate to continue leading Israel—at least in the short term—he continues to rank among the very top leaders of the free world.
Alex Traiman is the CEO and Jerusalem bureau chief of JNS.
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