To my surprise, last Thursday morning there was relatively little coverage of the address to the US Congress delivered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last Wednesday afternoon apart from a critical opinion piece that appeared in the New York Times regarding Israel’s war on the Palestinians. The article, by Megan K. Stack, asserted that “History will cast Mr. Netanyahu’s visit in deservedly ugly tones. He’s not a guest we should aspire to host, but he is a visitor we deserve. Gaza is our war, too, thanks to the indispensable military aid and political cover the US government has lavished on Israel as the death toll climbs… What exploded as a war of retribution against Hamas has looked increasingly like a broader campaign of annihilation — the slaughter of trapped civilians; the excruciating deaths of thousands of children; the destruction of hospitals, schools and much of the civilian infrastructure.”
Polls have shown for months that more Americans disapprove than approve of the Israeli onslaught in Gaza, but Congress and the White House are not interested in the views of the public when they are on the receiving end of hundreds of millions of dollars in “donations” from Jewish billionaires. Much of the coverage of the Netanyahu appearance in the mainstream media was toothless and even adulatory. It generally reflected what was hailed as Bibi’s “fiery speech” that “did not give an inch” which vowed to continue fighting until “total victory” is achieved. There was some coverage of how Netanyahu went so far as to portray the many thousands of demonstrators, some of whom were pepper-sprayed and arrested, who surrounded the Capitol as “useful idiots paid for by Iran.” The jibe, together with other calls to go to war with Iran, produced cheers and other paroxysms of joy among the leaping and waving Congressmen. Bibi might have been particularly personally aggrieved by Pro-Palestinian protesters successfully having released insects into the Watergate Hotel where he was staying. Online video showed maggots running amok on the dinner table.
The Netanyahu speech was light on serious analysis, but heavy on emotional appeals, repeatedly invoking the assertion that he and the United States, in its “ironclad” support of Israel, are fighting to save “civilization” and that “our enemies are your enemies” and “our victory will be your victory.” Predictably, the Congressmen and guests who filled the chamber bobbed up and down applauding wildly after nearly every sentence, producing 53 standing ovations, far exceeding Netanyahu’s record 29 obtained the last time he addressed Congress in 2015.
Notably some Congressmen with active consciences skipped the event, including Nancy Pelosi, who, after the fact, denounced the address in a post on X: “Benjamin Netanyahu’s presentation in the House Chamber today was by far the worst presentation of any foreign dignitary invited and honored with the privilege of addressing the Congress of the United States. Many of us who love Israel spent time today listening to Israeli citizens whose families have suffered in the wake of the October 7th Hamas terror attack and kidnappings. These families are asking for a ceasefire deal that will bring the hostages home – and we hope the Prime Minister would spend his time achieving that goal.” Only one Republican, Tom Massie of Kentucky, did not participate after observing “Today Congress will undertake political theater on behalf of the State Department. The purpose of having Netanyahu address Congress is to bolster his political standing in Israel and to quell int’l opposition to his war. I don’t feel like being a prop so I won’t be attending.” Over 100 Congressional interns also boycotted the speech in a coordinated sick-out. “In an act of protest, many of us have pledged to call in sick today, the day of Netanyahu’s address,” read a statement from boycott participants. “We stand in full solidarity with the victims of Netanyahu’s actions. We call on all members of Congress to boycott the address and take a unified stand against what we believe is a ‘universal evil.’ We urge our representatives to respond to the collective will of the American people and reject any semblance of endorsement of Netanyahu’s actions.”
A substantial number of progressive and moderate Democrats, possibly as many as 136, also did not attend, suggesting that Netanyahu is not well regarded by many in the Democratic Party. Netanyahu spoke for an hour and the over-the-top reception he received from congress suggested that the government’s true loyalty is not to the voters who elected them but rather to a foreign leader who is a war-criminal, implying to some that Bibi is actually de facto the American president and Israel and the US are in practical terms one country, with Israel as the dominant partner in the arrangement. As an American who is deeply concerned about the US collaboration with Israel in what is indisputably a genocide in Gaza, watching this spectacle unfolding before my eyes was probably the most pathetic and humiliating hour which I have experienced in my lifetime. My country has done many bad things in the past century, but this alliance with unmitigated evil is the equivalent of selling one’s soul.
International lawyer John Whitbeck captured the feeling perfectly, writing how “After virtually every sentence uttered by the notorious war-criminal Benjamin Netanyahu, no matter how inane or blatantly false, virtually all the attending political prostitutes infesting the US Congress rose (53 times!) in a loud standing grovel of homage to their puppet-master, most long and loudly when he condemned pro-justice and anti-genocide protestors on American campuses and on the streets of Washington during his speech… Anyone watching this obscene spectacle could only conclude that the United States of America has ceased to be a respectable independent country and is now, as, indeed, it has been for many years already, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the State of Israel, with shared values which are rightfully rejected by the overwhelming majority of mankind. By their venality, cowardice, moral bankruptcy and near-treason, the American political class is flushing a once great country down history’s toilet, and the Global West, if it does not soon liberate itself from domination by the Israeli-American Empire, risks a similar fate.”
My particular gripe was over the fact that Netanyahu’s speech was full of uncontested lies and grossly exaggerated assumptions designed to get his audience roaring. The falsehoods were certainly recognizable as such by much of the audience, but Netanyahu was not challenged by anyone save only Representative Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat of Michigan and the sole Palestinian-American member of Congress, who attended the speech while holding up a sign while many of her colleagues applauded Netanyahu’s comments. One side of Tlaib’s sign read “GUILTY OF GENOCIDE” and the other read “WAR CRIMINAL.” Perhaps some dissidents in the crowd were intimidated by the threat by House Speaker Mike Johnson, who describes support of Israel as “one of America’s founding principles.” Johnson strategically stationed extra sergeants-at-arms in the chamber to arrest anyone who tried to interrupt Bibi. It is a unique and almost certainly illegal expedient to manage any pushback against favored and protected speakers like Netanyahu. Interestingly, Capitol police did forcibly removed from the rear of the chamber six relatives of Israeli hostages who reportedly attempted to disrupt the speech. One said “I couldn’t take it anymore,” and Jon Polin, the father of Israeli American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, said to reporters “I came here wanting to hear one sentence: ‘Today I announce that the hostages are coming home,’ and I didn’t hear that once.”
Among the lies propagated by Netanyahu was a longish tirade on how humane the Israeli army has been in its conduct of the war, claiming that Hamas “These monsters raped women, they beheaded men, they burnt babies alive. They killed parents in front of their children and children in front of their parents.” As has been confirmed by reliable independent sources, that is all a lie, a piece of Israeli government generated propaganda. And he also claimed falsely that the famine taking place in Gaza is a myth as his government has been allowing so many relief trucks to go into the strip that the average Palestinian is getting 3,000 calories of food per day. But my favorite line was his pledge to live at peace with the Palestinians when they stop wanting to “kill Jews.” The reality is, of course, it is the Jews who are killing Palestinians in large numbers using American supplied weapons. The highly respectable British medical journal The Lancet estimates that Israel has already killed more than 186,000 Palestinians since last October most of whom are still buried under the rubble of their homes, but for Netanyahu only Jewish lives matter. And the unrelenting savagery of the Israeli soldiers has also been confirmed by multiple independent sources. Bibi would also do well to read the new Knesset law passed last week that completely rejects the idea of a unilaterally declared sovereign Palestinian state side-by-side with Israel, confirming that Israel’s intentions do not include living at peace with its neighbors.
And so ends another exciting week in what once passed for the Capital of the United States of America. The visit by Netanyahu benefited certain politicians since to be qualified as an American presidential or vice-presidential candidate, you need to be photographed embracing a grinning genocidal psychopath from Israel. It keeps the cash flowing and the newspapers are empowered to tell lies on your behalf. Unfortunately, when the Israeli monsters are being received by their groveling hosts it also speaks most clearly to what we have become as a country while serving as the Israeli lapdog. Washington must finally confront the reality that its bloody close embrace of Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza is not advancing any US interests or promoting regional stability. In fact, it is doing the opposite. What has happened to America is the real tragedy.
Reprinted with permission from Unz Review.
