As thousands of protesters gathered outside the Capitol, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of the U.S. Congress — and spent a significant portion of his hourlong speech attacking the U.S. pro-Palestinian protest movement with insults and misinformation.
The prime minister went after campus protesters, drawing a false equivalence between students calling on their schools to divest from Israel and antisemitic attacks. He went on to insult protesters’ geographical and historical knowledge of the region, in reference to the protest slogan “From the river to the sea,” and belittled the slogan “Gays for Gaza,” saying it was the same as “Chickens for KFC.”
More broadly, Netanyahu claimed that movements for Palestine liberation were choosing “to stand with evil … to stand with Hamas.”
The prime minister also claimed that the pro-Palestinian movement is funded by the Iranian government, labeling protesters “Iran’s useful idiots,” without offering any evidence to substantiate his claim.
The allegation of Iranian funding drew a standing ovation from many members of Congress who attended the speech but also a spattering of “boos.” The comment likely stemmed from a statement released earlier this month from the White House’s head of national intelligence, Avril Haines, who said they found “actors tied to Iran’s government posing as activists online, seeking to encourage protests, and even providing financial support to protesters.” In the same statement, Haines clarified that Americans who protest are expressing their view on Gaza “in good faith” and that her office’s “intelligence does not indicate otherwise.”
A number of media reports in recent months have found that Netanyahu’s government has been operating a similar influence campaign on social media, largely targeting Black members of Congress, in order to shore up support for its war on Gaza.
To Palestine solidarity advocates demanding a ceasefire and an end to Israel’s war, Netanyahu’s attacks spoke to the power of their movement.
The speech was an “attempt to delegitimize a social movement that has a lot of power, that has a lot of clarity,” said Benjamin Kersten, a member of Jewish Voice for Peace, who participated in the rally outside the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, as well as the sit-in a day earlier in the Capitol rotunda. “It is also a distraction from what should be in focus, which is that over 39,000 people, over 14,000 children, have been killed by the Israeli government and military, making great use of United States’ weapons and funding.”
A central demand of protests around the Capitol during Netanyahu’s visit was an arms embargo on Israel. Since October 7, the U.S. has sent more than $12 billion in military aid to Israel, contributing to more than $141 billion in weapons to the Israeli government since the nation’s formation in 1948.
During his speech, Netanyahu appealed to lawmakers to fast-track military aid and invoked former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s World War II appeal to the United States: “Give us the tools, and we’ll finish the job.” He also said that sending more weapons would “help keep American’s boots off the ground,” despite the fact that American soldiers in the region have been readied for deployment to Gaza, have died in attacks related to the ongoing war, and have been actively defending Israeli targets from attack.
Netanyahu’s appearance before Congress generated significant controversy among Democratic lawmakers, drawing detractors across the party’s political spectrum, from Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who said the invitation was a mistake, to Sen. Bernie Sanders, who said Israel “has trampled on international law, on American law, and on basic human values” in its war on Gaza.
More than 50 Democratic lawmakers boycotted the address in protest.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian in Congress and most vocal opponent of the event, was in attendance, wearing a keffiyeh draped around her neck, holding a sign that read “War criminal.” Her guest at the address was Hani Almadhoun, a Palestinian American and director of philanthropy at UNRWA USA, who Tlaib said had lost “over 150 members of his extended family in Netanyahu’s genocide.”
Israel Defense Forces soldiers were prominently featured in his speech, with one soldier from Ethiopia, several soldiers fighting despite injuries, and boasting about their success in killing terrorists. Noa Argamani, a former hostage freed by the IDF during a rescue operation in Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp, was also present.
Families of hostages criticized Netanyahu’s speech, expressing concern about the safety of the remaining hostages. Some guests at the speech were detained for holding signs advocating for a ceasefire and the release of hostages.
The ICC prosecutor requested arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes in Gaza, including targeting civilians. Netanyahu defended his government’s aid delivery to Gaza and denied the ICC’s accusations.
Protest organizers aim to draw attention to Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and its actions in Gaza, following a ruling by the International Court of Justice declaring Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem as illegal and akin to apartheid.
Kersten, a JVP organizer, emphasized the need to address the broader issue of Israeli occupation and apartheid, rather than solely blaming Netanyahu. She criticized U.S. lawmakers for focusing on Netanyahu without addressing the underlying policies and behaviors.
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