Netanyahu Delivers Remarks to the US Congress

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Facts

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of the US Congress on Wednesday as part of his visit to the US aimed at reinforcing American support for Israel amid the war in Gaza.¹
• Netanyahu emphasized the Israeli military's resolve to win the conflict, saying the country will continue to wage war until Hamas is destroyed and the hostages returned. He also called on American lawmakers to fast-track military aid to Israel, dismissing accusations of genocide as 'outrageous slanders.'²
• Netanyahu repeatedly compared Hamas' Oct. 7 attack that killed 1.2K people in Israel and resulted in more than 200 hostages being taken into Gaza to both the 9/11 attacks and Pearl Harbor, framing the war as a civilizational conflict. Gaza's health ministry has reported that over 39K Palestinians have been killed since the war began.³
• Dozens of Democratic lawmakers boycotted the address. Vice Pres. Harris, who would typically preside over this kind of event was not present, citing a scheduling conflict. She is scheduled to meet with Netanyahu later this week at the White House.³
• Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with Pres. Joe Biden on Thursday — a meeting rescheduled due to Biden's recovery from COVID. Netanyahu is also scheduled to meet with Former Pres. Donald Trump on Friday at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.⁴
• Several groups protested Netanyahu's visit, with some demanding he be arrested and denouncing US military funding to Israel. One such protest, which took place outside the US Capitol, drew large crowds and was met with opposition from Capitol Police who deployed pepper spray against the demonstrators.⁵

Sources: ¹PBS NewsHour, ²CNN, ³NBC, ⁴Guardian and ⁵Associated Press.

Narratives

• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Slate. This visit is largely useless and should have been canceled before it began. While this visit was scheduled when the war in Gaza was front page news in the US, recent domestic events like the assassination attempt on Trump and Biden stepping down from his re-election campaign have overshadowed international news as well as this visit. Though the purpose of this visit may have been to bring attention and support to Israel, the opposite likely occurred, with boycotts against his speech happening in Congress, anger from the families of Israeli hostages about Netanyahu's departure from Israel, and large protests taking place in the Capitol and beyond.
• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by CBS. This congressional address was a strong symbol of American support and longtime alliance with Israel. Netanyahu's invitation is a sign of bipartisan unity amidst political differences, even despite the boycotts that occurred within Congress. Even though some US lawmakers may disagree with the policies of Netanyahu, his speech, and the response by American politicians emphasizes that this partnership is ironclad, and the US and Israel are unified in their goal of bringing home the hostages. This was a bipartisan show of support for the US' crucial ally.

Predictions