Netanyahu Defends Israel in Speech to Congress

[Pelican Press 0]

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Netanyahu Defends ******* in Speech to Congress

Mr. Netanyahu’s remarks came as the depth of the partisan split over his leadership has alarmed many lawmakers and analysts who warn it could do lasting damage to *******.

“The one adhesive that has maintained the resilience of the relationship is bipartisanship,” said Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East negotiator and adviser in *********** and Democratic administrations. “That is under extreme stress.”

He added: “If you have a *********** view and two or three Democratic views about what it means to be pro-*******, the nature of the relationship is going to change.”

Mr. Netanyahu appeared aware of those politics in trying to strike a bipartisan tone.

He emphasized that ******* is a strategic asset and deserves America’s support, praising both President Biden and former President Donald J. Trump. He did not mention Ms. Harris, whom he is set to meet on Thursday.

“He came to ******* to be with us in our darkest hour,” Mr. Netanyahu said of Mr. Biden’s visit to ******* shortly after the Oct. 7 *******, thanking him for being a self-proclaimed “proud Irish ********* Zionist.”

Since that visit, the relationship between the two men has turned poisonous at moments, culminating in Mr. Biden’s decision to withhold 2,000-pound ****** from *******, for ***** Mr. Netanyahu would use them in crowded cities.

Even as he thanked the ******* States effusively for supporting *******, Mr. Netanyahu gently hinted at his suspicion that the Biden administration is slowing arms shipments for leverage, saying: “Give us the tools faster, and we’ll finish the job faster.”

The prime minister tried to remind Congress of the ******* that began the war, graphically describing what happened on Oct. 7, when 3,000 ****** attackers stormed into *******, ******** and kidnapping civilians. “They burned ******* alive,” he said.

And he placed the war in the context of the struggles of Jews throughout history, including the Holocaust. “After Oct. 7, ‘Never Again’ is now,” he said, emphasizing the historical right of the ******* people to the land of *******.

In a nod to the deep political divisions the war has sown in the ******* States, Mr. Netanyahu condemned Americans who have protested his tactics — including large swaths of the Democratic Party — equating criticism of his conduct of the war with sympathy for terrorists.

“Many choose to stand with evil, they stand with ******, they stand with rapists and murderers,” Mr. Netanyahu said of pro-************ protesters. “They should be ashamed of themselves.”

“For all we know, Iran is funding the anti-******* protests that are going on right now, outside this building,” he added. He did not cite evidence for that assertion, although he noted U.S. intelligence officials have warned of Iranian attempts to influence protests.

Senator Ben Cardin, the Maryland Democrat who presided over the ****** meeting after others in his party declined, said later that while he had mostly been encouraged by Mr. Netanyahu’s address, his castigation of the protesters was concerning.

“I’m not a big fan of a lot of the protesters, but they have a right to protest as long as they don’t interfere with someone else’s rights,” Mr. Cardin, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said in an interview. “I thought the prime minister’s comments about them — characterizing them all in a certain way — was not as I would have liked to have seen.”

Mr. Netanyahu’s visit was fraught for Democrats, some of whom wanted to show support for the state of ******* while at the same time criticizing its current leader. Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, who has harshly criticized Mr. Netanyahu, did not shake hands with him when he entered the chamber.

“Benjamin Netanyahu is the worst leader in ******* history since the Maccabean king who invited the Romans into Jerusalem over 2,100 years ago,” Representative Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of New York, said in a statement ahead of the speech. Still, he sat in the chamber, and rose to applaud Mr. Netanyahu throughout his address.

Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of J Street, a ******** pro-******* advocacy group, criticized the speech for failing to offer “an actual plan for ending the war and bringing real security and peace to the region.” In a statement, he added: “His empty calls for ‘total victory’ are simply an illusion, as there is no military solution to the underlying conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.”

Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, who in the past has signaled he is open to placing conditions on aid to *******, said in a post online that, “the speech was, as I expected, a setback for both the U.S.-******* relationship and the ****** against ******.”

A few Republicans also did not attend.

Senator JD Vance of Ohio, Mr. Trump’s running mate, was campaigning. And Representative Thomas Massie, *********** of Kentucky, said that he would not attend an event he considered “political theater.” In a social media post, Mr. Massie said, “the purpose of having Netanyahu address Congress is to bolster his political standing in *******.”

Robert Jimison, Luke Broadwater and Maya C. Miller contributed reporting.

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