There is no question that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fourth address to a joint session of Congress last Wednesday was an impressive performance. As usual, his rhetoric was superb, and he received almost as many standing ovations as the number of minutes he spoke.
He presented Israel’s basic arguments fully and succinctly: The vicious Hamas attack on the Gaza border communities on October 7 left over 1,200 men and women, from children to senior citizens, mutilated and butchered; homes ransacked, looted, and/or burned down.
Some 250 persons of all ages – most of them alive but quite a few dead – were taken hostage to the Gaza Strip, and have been kept in captivity without a visit of Red Cross representatives. So far, only half of them have been released through deals with Hamas, or by force.
Netanyahu related the lies hurled internationally against Israel: that it had committed genocide, that it deliberately targeted civilians and intentionally sought to starve the population, and that it had lied about the atrocities “allegedly” committed by Hamas on October 7. He spoke mockingly of the total ignorance of most of the protesters against Israel, and accused Iran of financing them.
He also spoke of the dangers confronting Israel, and all Western democracies, from Iran and its proxies. He repeated Winston Churchill’s famous February 1941 saying: “Give us the tools, and we will finish the job” – a justification to prod the US to continue arms sales to Israel, while pointing out that “together we [Israel and US] shall win.”
As usual, Netanyahu spoke of a total (elusive) victory over Hamas being the main reason for the continuation of the war, and the release of all the hostages as another goal of the continued fighting, even though in reality he appears to be stalling on reaching a deal.
Netanyahu also made impressive use of Israeli soldiers, of various origins, who have fought in Gaza, half of whom had been severely wounded. He invited them to join him on his flight to Washington on Wing of Zion (Israel’s version of the US’s Air Force One) and to attend his speech in Congress, together with several released hostages, the most famous of whom was the highly presentable 26-year-old Noa Argamani.
However, there are also numerous reservations regarding Netanyahu’s feat, and success.
Reservations regarding Netanyahu's feat and success
The standing ovations were undoubtedly impressive. Less visible was the fact that 128 Democratic senators and representatives (including Kamala Harris – the vice president typically presides over a joint session of Congress – and former House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi) did not attend. All (or most) of the Democratic congressmen who did attend refrained from standing and clapping. In other words, the standing ovation was primarily a Republican performance.
Concerning the content: As mentioned, Netanyahu emphasized the need, in his view, to continue the war, even though most of the international community is calling for a rapid ceasefire. It should be emphasized that President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and former (and future?) president Donald Trump all call for a rapid end to the war. Trump keeps warning that if the war in Gaza does not end quickly, there is a danger of World War III erupting.
Though Biden fully recognizes the horrors of the October 7 attack on Israel, he and Harris have not ignored the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza – Harris much more than Biden. Furthermore, the US, like the EU, has introduced sanctions against extreme individual right-wing settlers, and various extreme right-wing organizations that wantonly attack Palestinians and try to stop humanitarian aid from entering the Gaza Strip.
The greatest problem is that Netanyahu’s address portrayed only part of Israel’s reality.
Glaringly, there is Netanyahu’s total refusal to assume any responsibility for the surprise attack of October 7, or for the many mishaps and failures of the past nine and a half months. Furthermore, Netanyahu is rapidly losing his hold over many of his ministers, and the support of a majority of the citizens of Israel, thereby making his bravado somewhat hollow.
On the day of Netanyahu’s address to Congress, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir declared in Israel that Jews have an inherent right to pray on the Temple Mount. Netanyahu gave a soft reaction, saying that the status quo on the Temple Mount has not changed. For a moment, I thought he might take advantage of the incident to declare that “enough is enough,” fire Ben-Gvir and expel his Otzma Yehudit party from the government.
Ben-Gvir is causing more harm than good to Israel’s internal security, just like Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is causing more harm than good to the Israeli economy. The US administration has been considering imposing sanctions on both Ben-Gvir and Smotrich due to the racist, anti-Palestinian policies they advocate and encourage. A move by Netanyahu to get rid of them would certainly be welcomed in Washington, though as a result Netanyahu would probably face the early election he is trying so hard to ward off.
Amid the backdrop of Netanyahu’s speech is the fact that many reservists are being called up for a third round of reserve duty since last October, and are complaining of economic hardships and even marital difficulties.
Netanyahu is also trying to preserve the status quo with the haredim over their non-enlistment for military service (the annual number of eligible haredim who do not enlist is around 12,000). This is in addition to many other absurdities created by haredi demands, including their insistence that work on a bridge project that crosses Highway 1 not be done on Shabbat.
Instead, the work is being done during the week, causing traffic disruptions and safety concerns for the cars that pass underneath the construction, and progressing at snail’s pace.
There are many more highly disturbing elements in the current reality in Israel. There is the bitter and frequently ugly argument about the need for an immediate deal to free the hostages. There is the unresolved problem of 80,000 Israelis from the North and South who were evacuated from their homes nine months ago, and are still internally displaced.
There is also the ongoing constitutional reform that the government is trying to introduce in a trickle, rather than in a torrent, as it did before October 7, which the opposition perceives as a real threat to Israel’s faltering liberal democracy.
Of course, I am not suggesting that these issues should have been mentioned in Netanyahu’s congressional address. But with so many unresolved, painful issues on the Israeli agenda, perhaps last week was not the right time for Netanyahu to appear before Congress. The timing was also faulty because of the critical American presidential election.
Although Netanyahu complimented both Biden and Trump, thus giving a semblance of bipartisanship, it is no secret who Netanyahu prefers in the match-up between Harris (the likely Democratic candidate in the election) and Trump.
In retrospect, it would also have been preferable for Netanyahu to have been in Israel last Saturday, when the fatal Hezbollah rocket attack on Majdal Shams that killed 12 children took place. But that is all spilt milk.
The writer worked in the Knesset for many years as a researcher and has published extensively both journalistic and academic articles on current affairs and Israeli politics. Her most recent book, Israel’s Knesset Members – A Comparative Study of an Undefined Job, was published by Routledge.