Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress in the chamber of the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol on July 24, 2024, in Washington, D.C. Netanyahu’s visit occurs as the Israel-Hamas war reaches nearly 10 months. A handful of Senate and House Democrats boycotted the remarks over Israel’s war on Hamas. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised victory over Hamas militants and said he knows “America has our back” during a joint meeting of Congress Wednesday that drew thousands of protesters and sparked a boycott from some Democrats who oppose the Israeli government’s monthslong offensive in Gaza.
“Our enemies are your enemies, our fight is your fight, and our victory will be your victory,” Netanyahu told lawmakers. “Ladies and gentlemen, that victory is in sight.”
The Israeli leader visited Washington as his military’s airstrikes in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis added dozens of deaths to a mounting toll of 39,000, according to Gaza health authorities in the Hamas-controlled territory.
Additionally, news on Monday of the deaths of two captives held by Hamas charged the already roaring calls for their release.
Israel’s offensive, approaching its tenth month, has been ongoing since Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on Oct. 7, 2023, terrorizing music festival attendees and numerous communal settlements. In one day, the militants killed more than 1,100 and escaped with upwards of 200 hostages.
Netanyahu recounted the “sheer evil” during his nearly one-hour speech to lawmakers Wednesday and thanked President Joe Biden for standing with Israel “during our darkest hour that will never be forgotten.”
“This is not a clash of civilizations. It’s a clash between barbarism and civilization,” Netanyahu said. “It’s a clash between those who glorify death and those who sanctify life. For the forces of civilization to triumph, America and Israel must stand together.”
He introduced a rescued hostage sitting beside his wife, Sara, in the House chamber’s gallery and told families of American hostages in attendance that he will “not rest until all their loved ones are home.” Netanyahu also asked a handful of Israeli service members to rise from where they were seated behind lawmakers on the Republican side of the House floor.
GOP lawmakers briefly chanted “USA” after Netanyahu decried Iran’s threats to Israel and warned that Iran’s “real war is with America.”
“Yet at the heart of the Middle East, standing in Iran’s way, is one proud democracy, my country, the state of Israel,” Netanyahu said.
Partisan cracks
Applause was not unanimous throughout the lengthy speech.
When Netanyahu sharply criticized anti-Israel protesters who “stand with Hamas” and “should be ashamed of themselves,” many Democratic lawmakers remained seated, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the body’s highest-ranking Jewish member.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan raised a small sign that read “Guilty of genocide” as Netanyahu called the International Criminal Court’s accusations against him “utter, complete nonsense.”
Netanyahu defended his country’s treatment of Palestinians.
He rejected the position of the ICC, which issued arrest warrant applications in May for both Hamas and Israeli government officials, including Netanyahu.
The ICC “shamefully accused Israel of starving the people of Gaza” and deliberately targeting civilians, he said.
Netanyahu accused Hamas of stealing the half-million tons of food his country has sent into Gaza.
The Israeli military has “dropped millions of flyers, sent millions of text messages” to warn civilians prior to airstrikes, but Netanyahu said Hamas militants use their civilians as human shields.
“For Hamas, it’s a strategy,” Netanyahu said. “They actually want Palestinian civilians to die so that Israel will be smeared in the international media.”
Prior to Netanyahu’s speech, House Speaker Mike Johnson said Israel is a victim of an “information wars.”
The Louisiana Republican shook hands with the prime minister and his wife against the backdrop of American and Israeli flags upon their arrival just after 1 p.m.
“The threats Israel faces are not only kinetic. Jerusalem is also combatting lawfare and information wars and double standards from the U.N. and the media,” Johnson said.
Harris campaigns during Netanyahu visit
Vice President Kamala Harris did not preside over Netanyahu’s joint address, as is tradition for the officeholder who is also the president of the U.S. Senate.
Rather, the likely Democratic presidential nominee departed Washington on Wednesday morning for a speech in Indianapolis , followed by travel to Houston.
Harris’s office did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Both Biden and Harris are expected to meet Netanyahu separately on Thursday, followed by a joint meeting with the families of American hostages still held by Hamas.
“The leaders will discuss developments in Gaza and progress towards a ceasefire and hostage release deal and the United States’ ironclad commitment to Israel’s security, including countering Iran’s threats to Israel and the broader region,” according to a statement released Wednesday by White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
The Republican National Committee pounced on Harris’ absence in a statement, calling it a “disgraceful snub” and accusing the vice president of being “weak” on Israel.
The Senate’s president pro tempore, Patty Murray of Washington, also did not preside, citing opposition to the war in a statement reported in the Spokesman-Review, a Spokane newspaper.
Instead, Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, took the seat behind Netanyahu.
“The United States relationship with the State of Israel transcends politics and partisanship, and it transcends any one Israeli government or any one U.S. administration. Its foundation is cemented in the ties between our people,” Cardin said in a statement.
Schumer said he attended Netanyahu’s address because the leader’s visit presented the latest opportunity to draw attention to hostages, including some of his New York constituents, who remain in Hamas captivity.
“Even though I disagree with many of Bibi Netanyahu’s policies, I will attend the speech because the United States’ relationship with Israel remains ironclad and transcends any prime minister or president. And we must do all we can to get our hostages home,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Wednesday morning.
Schumer, a Democrat, delivered sharp criticism of Netanyahu on the Senate floor in March when he called for a complete overhaul of Israeli and Palestinian Authority leadership. Schumer said on March 14 that Netanyahu had “lost his way” and proposed the country hold new elections.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell met with Netanyahu Wednesday and affirmed the U.S. commitment to the Middle East nation.
“The American people can take pride in the resilience of our friends fighting Iran-backed terror. But Israel’s fight is America’s fight, too. Like our friends on the front lines of Russian and Chinese aggression, Israel’s defiance of the world’s most active state sponsor of terror deserves America’s utmost support,” McConnell said in a statement.
Democrats boycott
Dozens of Democratic lawmakers boycotted Netanyahu’s address to protest the tens of thousands of civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip and the continued delay of a cease-fire agreement while hostages taken on Oct. 7 remain in Hamas captivity.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Netanyahu’s speech “was by far the worst presentation of any foreign dignitary invited and honored with the privilege of addressing the Congress of the United States.”
“Many of us who love Israel spent time today listening to Israeli citizens whose families have suffered in the wake of the October 7th Hamas terror attack and kidnappings. These families are asking for a ceasefire deal that will bring the hostages home — and we hope the Prime Minister would spend his time achieving that goal,” she wrote on social media following the prime minister’s visit.
Rep. Mark Pocan, a Wisconsin Democrat, called Congress’ invitation to Netanyahu “wildly inappropriate” because the Israeli leader “has violated international human rights law so severely that an arrest warrant for war crimes has been recommended by the International Criminal Court.”
“I regret that one has not been issued yet, as I would have gladly served it to him on the House floor,” Pocan said in a statement Wednesday.
Rep. Summer Lee of Pennsylvania said on the House floor that Israel has “decimated” the Gaza Strip using U.S.-provided weapons.
“When Putin commits war crimes, we condemn him. When Netanyahu commits war crimes, we give him excuses and bombs,” the freshman Democrat said, referring to U.S. support of Ukraine as Russian President Vladimir Putin continues his attack on the neighboring country.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top House Democratic appropriator, did not attend the speech, citing anger that “Republicans have used this address to score political points and stoke division.”
“And I am shocked by the ongoing Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip, spearheaded by Prime Minister Netanyahu, that has been indifferent to the loss of Palestinian lives and settler violence. For these reasons, I will not attend the joint address,” the Connecticut Democrat said in a statement.
DeLauro joined Democrats Jim Clyburn of South Carolina and Jamie Raskin of Maryland to meet with hostages’ families earlier in the day.
Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky was the rare Republican absence during Netanyahu’s address, dismissing it as “political theater on behalf of the State Department.”
“The purpose of having Netanyahu address Congress is to bolster his political standing in Israel and to quell (international) opposition to his war,” Massie wrote on social media.
Protests
U.S. Capitol Police said they deployed pepper spray on protesters marching toward the Capitol just before 2 p.m., when Netanyahu’s speech got underway.
Inside the Capitol, police reported arresting six people in the House gallery for “unlawful conduct” during the Israeli leader’s address.
Later, demonstrators marched on Washington’s Union Station and raised Palestinian flags that Washington Metropolitan Police eventually removed, according to local reports. It was unclear how many protesters were arrested.
Thousands demonstrated on the National Mall and surrounding avenues leading to the Capitol beginning early Wednesday. Numerous coalitions of advocacy groups converged on Washington carrying signs that read “Free Palestine” and attempting to burn an effigy of Netanyahu, according to reporters who were present.
The A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition — short for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism — held court before a large crowd on Pennsylvania Avenue for nearly three hours of rotating speakers including actress Susan Sarandon.
A sit-in Tuesday night in the Cannon House Office Building ended with roughly 200 arrests, according to Capitol law enforcement.
Tall, black security fencing surrounded the Capitol complex, and U.S. Capitol Police increased its presence along with federal law enforcement and other partners.
Netanyahu’s visit came almost exactly one year after Israeli President Isaac Herzog addressed a joint meeting of Congress to mark the 75th anniversary of Israel’s independence. At the time of Herzog’s visit, Netanyahu was facing massive protests in his own country for a law that would shift the judiciary in his favor.
Negotiations over a U.S. and internationally-backed cease-fire proposal are limping along in Cairo as parties struggle to finalize a path forward for the Palestinian territories following the war, according to numerous reports . Israel’s parliament last week rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state, rejecting the Biden administration’s advocacy for a two-state solution.
Netanyahu met separately Tuesday with several families of hostages and evangelical Christian leaders in Washington, according to a statements released by his office.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump said on his online platform Truth Social that he will welcome Netanyahu to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Friday.
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