The speech was accompanied by loud protests around the parliament building in the US capital. It is Netanyahu’s first visit to Washington in almost four years and his first foreign trip since the Islamist Hamas terrorist attack in Israel on October 7, which led to the war in Gaza. The appearance before the US parliament was also his fourth of this kind, which is rather unusual. A speech before both houses of the American parliament is a rare honor for foreign heads of state and government.
Netanyahu was received with much applause, especially from Republicans. Several Democrats boycotted his speech. One of them, Representative Ilhan Omar, said it was “immoral and cruel” to give Netanyahu a platform to the many victims of the war. She called him a “war criminal” who was committing “genocide” against the Palestinians.
Contrary to the hopes of relatives of the 120 hostages still remaining in the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu did not announce an agreement on a ceasefire in return for the release of the hostages. The trip of an Israeli delegation to Qatar for indirect negotiations with the Islamist Hamas, which was announced for Thursday, has also been postponed further. It is now expected next week, an Israeli representative confirmed. The exact date is still unclear.
Netanyahu rejected allegations that Israel was deliberately targeting civilians in the Gaza war. Instead, he accused Hamas of “doing everything in its power to put Palestinian civilians in danger.” He also denied any responsibility for the humanitarian plight of the people in the Gaza Strip, instead blaming Hamas: “If there are Palestinians in the Gaza Strip who are not getting enough food, it is not because Israel is blocking them. It is because Hamas is stealing it.”
Netanyahu also claimed that few civilians were killed in the Gaza war compared to wars in residential areas in other countries. There were particularly few civilian casualties in the city of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip. This contradicts the figures from the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, which does not differentiate between fighters and civilians.
Netanyahu and his government have come under sharp international criticism due to the high number of civilian casualties in the Gaza war and the humanitarian plight of the people in the sealed-off coastal strip. In May, the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Karim Khan, requested arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as well as three Hamas leaders for alleged crimes against humanity. The court has yet to decide on these applications. Netanyahu raged that the prosecutor’s allegations were nothing but lies.
The Israeli head of government confirmed that the war would end with a victory over Hamas. His vision for the day after was “a demilitarized, deradicalized Gaza.” Israel did not want to repopulate the Gaza Strip, but must maintain security control there for the foreseeable future. He spoke of a civil administration by “Palestinians who do not want to destroy Israel.”
For the Middle East, Netanyahu spoke of a security alliance between Israel and the US against Iran. “All countries that live at peace with Israel and all those countries that will make peace with Israel should be invited to join this alliance.”
There were major protests in the US capital against Netanyahu’s speech. Capitol Police said that “part of the crowd became violent” very close to parliament. There were reports of several arrests.
At a pro-Palestinian rally, speakers called on the Biden administration to completely stop military aid to Israel. They accused Israel of “genocide” in the Gaza Strip and accused Biden, his deputy Kamala Harris and the top US parliamentarians of participating in it. At another location, Jewish demonstrators gathered with Israeli flags. Their protest was also directed against Netanyahu. One participant said that Netanyahu does not represent the Israeli people.
Security measures around the Capitol were drastically increased because of the visit. The building was cordoned off with high fences.
Inside, Netanyahu expressed contempt for the protests. The demonstrators were on the side of evil, “they are on the side of Hamas, they are on the side of rapists and murderers.” Addressing the demonstrators directly, Netanyahu said, referring to the links between Hamas and Iran: “You have officially become useful idiots of Iran.” Many demonstrators had no idea what they were talking about.
Netanyahu is in the US for several days and wants to meet Biden there – and his predecessor Donald Trump, who is running again for the Republicans in the presidential election in November. A meeting with Biden’s deputy Harris, who is expected to run for the Democrats in the election, is also planned. Netanyahu thanked Biden’s government for its support in the war and at the same time asked for further, faster arms deliveries. “Give us the funds faster – and we will finish the job faster.”
2024-07-24 20:09:08