ReutersIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US lawmakers “our enemies are your enemies” in a landmark speech to Congress aimed at drumming up support for the Gaza war, but what happened inside and outside the Capitol protest activity.
“When we fight Iran, we are fighting the most aggressive and vicious enemy of the United States of America,” Netanyahu said.
“Our fight is your fight and our victory will be your victory,” he added.
The Israeli leader’s speech to a joint session of Congress, his fourth, was warmly received by most Republican politicians.
But the deliberate absence of dozens of congressional Democrats, along with thousands of protesters on the streets outside, underscored the growing political divisions over the Gaza war.
The crowd gathered on a stage on Capitol Hill and was laden with banners, including one declaring the Israeli leader a “wanted war criminal,” referring to an arrest warrant sought by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court.
Five people were arrested inside the Capitol for trying to disrupt Mr Netanyahu’s speech, according to police.
“You have officially become Iran’s useful idiots,” Netanyahu told the protesters.
In numerous references to Iran, the Israeli prime minister claimed that an “axis of terror” threatens the United States, Israel and the Arab world, describing it as a “barbaric conflict against civilization.”
The term mimics what Iran calls the “axis of resistance,” an alliance across the Middle East that includes the Palestinian group Hamas, the Lebanese group Hezbollah and the Houthis who rule parts of Yemen.
He told Congress that Iranian proxy forces have attacked U.S. targets, adding that Iran believed “that in order to truly challenge the United States, it must first conquer the Middle East.”
“But in the heart of the Middle East, standing in front of Iran is a proud pro-American democracy: my country, the State of Israel.”
ReutersIn a speech lasting more than an hour, Mr Netanyahu deflected criticism of Israel and described the Gaza war as an existential battle for Israel to seek further U.S. military aid.
He thanked the United States for its “generous military assistance” to Israel over decades, adding that in return, Israel provided the United States with critical intelligence that “saved many lives.”
But he called for “rapid advancement” of the U.S. military aid process, claiming it could speed up the end of the war in Gaza and help prevent a wider regional war.
He cited British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s appeal to the American people during World War II: “Give us the tools and we will get the job done.”
Mr Netanyahu did not discuss the humanitarian crisis in Gaza in detail, insisting only that Israel was providing enough food aid to provide 3,000 calories per person. If Gaza residents are not getting food, he said, it is because “Hamas has stolen the food.”
He outlined a post-war vision for the Gaza Strip, calling for the creation of a “demilitarized and de-radicalized” enclave under Israeli military control.
“Gaza should have a civilian government run by Palestinians who do not seek to destroy Israel. This is not too much to ask,” he said.
He made no mention of the prospect of an eventual two-state solution, which is what President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who is likely to replace him as the Democratic nominee, want.
A few standing ovations could not hide the fact that at least 39 MPs were absent from the speech.
Nearly all are Democrats, including influential former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who said Netanyahu’s visit was “inappropriate.”
Ms Harris reportedly did not attend due to a scheduling conflict.
Throughout her speech, Michigan Democrat Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian-American member of Congress, held up placards that read “Committed Genocide” and “War Criminal” “.
Benjamin Netanyahu, aware of Donald Trump’s potential return to the White House, also thanked the former president for moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, Israel’s Territory captured from Syria in 1967.
The two will meet in Florida later this week.
Inside Israel, families of hostages still held in Gaza gathered to denounce the speech, which was played silently in the center of Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square.
After the national anthem, the crowd dispersed and Netanyahu continued speaking on the screen.
The audio was muted, but his English speech was subtitled with a Hebrew translation.
Shortly after the speech, the Israeli army announced that it had recovered the bodies of two hostages, Maya Goren and Oren Goldin, from Gaza. The news underscores the growing despair among many hostage families at the prospect of seeing their loved ones again, as months-long hostage negotiations remain inconclusive.
The prime minister’s address to Congress comes nine months after Israeli operations in Gaza have killed more than 39,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
On October 7, an unprecedented attack in southern Israel left approximately 1,200 people dead and 251 others taken hostage as the Israeli military launched an operation to destroy Hamas.
