As part of his visit to the United States this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Congress on Wednesday, as we wrote, speaking to a joint session of the two chambers, bringing up many topics, including the war with the terror group Hamas
An unfortunate backdrop of the prime minister’s visit was the pro-Hamas protests both outside and inside the Capitol starting on Tuesday, with some clashes happening with police, and pepper spray needed to be used to restore order. In another incident, rioters sought to denigrate the U.S. flag.
Normal, healthy first world country we’ve got here pic.twitter.com/wCre2wigqq
— Kevin McMahon (@Kevin__McMahon) July 24, 2024
DC: Pro-Hamas Protestors Becoming Violent Outside Capitol While PM Netanyahu Speaks
Netanyahu spoke about those violent protesters in his speech, as my colleague Margaret Clark wrote:
But Netanyahu, the bulldog of Israel that he is, had something special just for them:
“Well, I have a message for these protestors: When the tyrants of Tehran who hang gays from cranes and murder women for not covering their hair are praising, promoting, and funding you, you have officially become Iran’s USEFUL IDIOTS!”
‘Iran’s Useful Idiots!’ Netanyahu Holds Nothing Back Calling Protestors Out on Home Turf
He also mentioned how former president, Donald Trump, was a good friend to Israel while in office:
Netanyahu thanks former President Trump in his address to Congress:
“I want to thank President Trump for all the things he did for Israel, from recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, to confronting Iran’s aggression, to recognizing Jerusalem as our capital and… pic.twitter.com/RYWP56utth
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 24, 2024
After calling the Abraham Accords, “the Abraham Alliance,” stressing the historic unity it represented, he said, “I want to thank President Trump for brokering the historic Abraham Accords,” then paused as that got a rousing standing ovation from many in the audience.
He also talked about the July 13th assassination attempt against Trump, calling it out as “a dastardly attack on American democracy”:
Like Americans, Israelis were relieved that President Trump emerged safe and sound from that dastardly attack on him, dastardly attack on American democracy.
He added that “there is no room for political violence in democracies!” That also got a warm ovation. Netanyahu will meet with the Republican presidential nominee at his home at Mar-a-Lago on Friday.
And as a sign of unity, in another part of his remarks, he hailed Biden as a longtime ally to his country for 50 years, too:
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu thanks President Biden for being a decades-long friend to Israeli, revealing that he has called himself “a proud Irish-American Zionist.” pic.twitter.com/bjTAyKHhz7
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 24, 2024
“For the forces of civilization to triumph, America and Israel must stand together,” he said, thanking President Biden for “half a century of friendship to Israel.”
His mention of Pres. Biden comes across as genuine, which also says something about his character. This enduring affection is clear, despite the fact that their meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, was canceled because of Biden’s illness:
Netanyahu Coming to DC—but Meeting With Biden Reportedly Scrapped
But when you look at the image in this story, you’ll notice something else that is different from the major speeches given to a joint session of Congress–behind the Israeli prime minister, there’s the House Speaker Mike Johnson, but the president of the Senate is AWOL. (Instead, we see Senate Foreign Relations Chair Ben Cardin (D-MD.)
Vice President Kamala Harris, as we previously wrote, joined about half of House and Senate Democrats in boycotting the speech of the leader of one of our nation’s closest allies–more than ditched his speech in 2015 during the Obama administration. It’s shameful that we have to suffer from the behavior of the Democrats like this. Is Harris going to snub other American allies, if–God forbid–she becomes president in the election? At a minimum, it’s a bad look.
You can watch the full speech here.
Related:
Civilization or Barbarism: The Left Is Forcing You to Choose a Side
It’s Sad, but Benjamin Netanyahu Understands America Better Than Some Americans Do
