Today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to a very familiar building. Not only is he making his fourth address to a joint session of Congress – breaking Winston Churchill’s record for foreign leaders – he has also been making appearances in the halls of the building since serving as Israel’s ambassador to the United States in the early 1980s. Since his first speech to Congress in 1996, Netanyahu has been almost as much a fixture of politics in America as in Israel.
Things felt different today. It is not that Netanyahu is a controversial figure, who draws Thousands of protesters Washington street. This is not new; There was Netanyahu’s 2011 speech to Congress Blocked by pro-Palestinian protesters What is new in the chamber is that he has become increasingly marginalized.
Even a few weeks ago, when Netanyahu’s speech was announced, it made for a marquee political event. Today, it’s overshadowed by President Joe Biden’s highly anticipated Wednesday night speech to address his decision to drop out of the presidential race. Dozens of lawmakers— About half of Congress is a Democrat — avoided Netanyahu’s speech entirely.
The presence behind Netanyahu on the rostrum of soon-to-be-retiring Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin proves just how partisan Netanyahu has become. Vice President Kamala Harris, Senate President Pro Tempore Patty Murray and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, one of whom would normally occupy that seat, all Rejection of role. Netanyahu, who has been Israel’s prime minister for 17 of the past 30 years, has done more than anyone to support the country on increasingly partisan issues in the United States, through actions like his. Speech to Congress in 2015. At the time, he was invited by congressional Republicans to lobby against the Iran nuclear deal then being negotiated by the Obama administration. Considered a significantly biased speech For a foreign leader.
In today’s speech, by contrast, Netanyahu made little news. It was a speech that gave little indication of a plan to end the war in Gaza and likely undermined ongoing diplomatic efforts to do so. It was a remarkably defensive speech for Netanyahu, who was more devoted to charting a way out of the situation they found themselves in than rebutting criticism of Israel. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to call It was “the worst representation of any foreign dignitary invited and honored with the privilege of addressing the Congress of the United States.”
What Netanyahu said – and what he’s doing
Netanyahu described the horror of the October 7 attack by Hamas and promised the families of hostages currently held in Gaza that he “will not rest until their loved ones come home.” Not everyone in this family may be interested in taking him at his word. Many of them The prime minister is calling on him to accept a cease-fire deal to secure the release of the hostages, but today Netanyahu vowed that “Israel will fight until we destroy Hamas’ military capabilities and its rule in Gaza and bring home all our hostages,” adding, ” It’s. What a total win and we’ll settle for anything less.”
Netanyahu also said, as he has said in several previous comments, “[Israel] Overriding controls must be maintained [in Gaza] to ensure that Gaza never again poses a security threat to Israel” — a claim that could be a nonstarter for any cease-fire agreement.
Nevertheless, Netanyahu said in recent days That a cease-fire deal may be near, and the deal currently being negotiated could be the focus of the prime minister’s meeting with Biden at the White House on Thursday. The Biden administration has tended not to respond directly to Netanyahu’s public statements on the deal, and this time was no exception. Asked whether Netanyahu’s comments made that deal less likely, a senior US administration official told reporters Wednesday afternoon, “We were doing something else in the situation room, so I didn’t see the speech.”
Netanyahu did not indicate any specific questions beyond continuing US military aid. “Give us the tools fast and we’ll get the job done fast,” he said, leaning into a famous Churchill line from World War II. In three of his previous addresses going back to the mid-1990s, Netanyahu had addressed Iran, which he mentioned before Hamas. He made the case that Israel’s fight against Iran-backed groups like Hamas and Hezbollah serves to “keep American boots off the ground while protecting our shared interests in the Middle East.”
He pushed back against criticism of Israel over civilian casualties and blocking food access to Gaza. He tore into anti-Israel protesters in the US, accusing them of being “useful idiots” for Iran, criticizing university presidents and comparing “gays for Gaza” to “chicken for KFC”. It was probably the first speech on Middle East policy that included a shout out “Fraternity brothers of the University of North Carolina.”
How to lose friends and influence
Netanyahu praised President Biden for his “half-century of friendship with Israel” and noted that the president described himself as a “proud Zionist.” But it only served to highlight the shrinking number of Democratic politicians who would publicly describe themselves as such. Polls have consistently shown a Deep partisan divides Expressing sympathy for Israel.
He thanked former President and current Republican nominee Donald Trump for his actions in support of Israel during his presidency, including Israeli recognition. Sovereignty in the Golan Heights and moving US Embassy in Jerusalem. Netanyahu will go to Florida to meet with Trump (And perhaps celebrating his son’s birthday, who lives in Miami). Still, while Trump hasn’t exactly lashed out at Israel, he’s clearly expressed some anger at Netanyahu, On which he is still angry To congratulate Biden on his election victory in 2020. It doesn’t seem like a coincidence that Trump posted one friendly letter From Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the day he announced the Netanyahu meeting.
From a purely visual perspective, Netanyahu may have gotten what he wanted today: a rapturous standing ovation, even from predominantly Republicans. But more than that 70 percent of Israelis now say Netanyahu should resign. His own defenses are turning on him War management And he’s been vocal on issues ranging from his long-running legal troubles to the controversial question of whether he should serve in the ultra-Orthodox country’s military.
In the past, Washington has served as a kind of relief valve for Netanyahu, a place where he can count on strong support, even when his political position looks rocky at home. In that first speech in 1996, after receiving a five-minute standing ovation from Congress, he ridicule“If I could only get the Knesset [Israel’s parliament] To vote like this.
Today, though, “the magic is gone,” Nimrod Novick, a former senior Israeli foreign policy official who is now an analyst at the Israel Policy Forum, told Vox. “The fellow who mastered the verbal acrobatics in such a way that different audiences could hear different messages in the same speech — that’s the end. Those who marveled at his verbal prowess now take it with a grain of salt.”
More than 40 years since he arrived in Washington, Netanyahu has certainly become accustomed to being a controversial figure. He may have to get used to being irrelevant.
