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January 25, 1446
July 31, 2024 AD
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Netanyahu’s speech in Congress was interrupted by more than 79 rounds of applause, giving the impression of high support, but is that really the case? Perhaps there are signs that Netanyahu’s visit has other aspirations.
Source: The Guardian
Eli Clifton[1]
Netanyahu’s speech to a joint session of the House and Senate appeared to be a political triumph: a foreign prime minister addressing Congress only to be interrupted by a standing ovation. But the political events in the background revealed the sharp decline of Netanyahu’s political career and the pro-Israel partisan consensus in the United States.
It is incredible that Netanyahu could find such a supportive audience in Israel, where 72% of Israelis want him to resign following Hamas’s defeat in its October 7 assault on Gaza.
72% of Israelis also support a deal to release the hostages rather than destroy Hamas. Although he said he had done his best "Let all hostages return home"Netanyahu appeared to reject the hostage release deal outright in a speech to parliament in which he declared Israel "You must maintain overall security control [في غزة] Prevent a resurgence of terrorism and ensure Gaza is no longer threatened by Israel"The Israeli army says this is an unachievable war goal and Hamas will not agree to its conditions.
Netanyahu’s speech was full of blatant lies. Netanyahu claimed "Almost no civilians killed in Rafah" (Daily reports indicate that Israeli airstrikes in and around Rafah have killed women and children.) He downplayed Israel’s role in starving much of Gaza’s population and claimed that Israel was helping "Keeping American troops off the ground while protecting our shared interests in the Middle East"ignoring the 4,492 American soldiers who died in the Iraq War, which Netanyahu launched in 2002 under pressure from Congress.
The speech may have seemed like a victory lap for Israel’s embattled prime minister, but the true test of Netanyahu’s political skills will become clear only when Harris lays out the foreign policy agenda for her presidential campaign.
Although it was Netanyahu’s fourth address to Congress, the political landscape in Washington had shifted beneath his feet, making the American audience far less hospitable than the applause would have suggested. About half of the Democrats in both the House and Senate boycotted the speech, and thousands of protesters demonstrated outside the Capitol, revealing how support for Israel’s war on Gaza has plummeted over the past nine months.
Before Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race, 38% of voters said they were less likely to vote for him because of his handling of the Gaza war. A report released by the Century Foundation, a think tank that commissioned the survey, said: "Many key voters — including independents, likely voters in swing states and Democratic operatives — are angered by Biden’s unconditional support for Israel’s assault on Gaza.".
The true test of Netanyahu’s political strategy will become clear only when Harris lays out the foreign policy agenda for her presidential campaign.
While sentiment toward Israel has warmed within the Republican Party — the floor of last week’s Republican National Convention was covered with Israeli flags and Republican members of Congress gave multiple standing ovations in support of Netanyahu’s speeches — that support has increasingly coincided with hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign donations. Before the world’s richest Israeli, Israeli-American Miriam Adelson, who along with her late husband, Sheldon Adelson, had topped the list of Republican donors since the late 2000s, raised questions about whether support for Israel is an issue of deep concern to the Republican base or just a required transaction for campaign contributions.
The wins by Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky and Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, both of whom have criticized U.S. aid to Israel, signaled a desire for, or at least acceptance of, a more balanced relationship between the U.S. and Israel among Republican voters in both countries.
Now, Netanyahu’s trip to Washington, planned before Biden ends his reelection campaign, comes amid political uncertainty over how Democratic nominee Kamala Harris will handle relations with Israel. His administration has lost dangerous levels of support, especially in important swing states such as Michigan, where 100,000 Arab and Muslim voters expressed their displeasure with Biden’s support for Israel’s Gaza war by submitting their ballots. "Not Committed" in the Democratic primary.
Pressure grows on the vice president to distance herself from Biden’s strategy "bear hug" Working with Netanyahu to exploit US influence over Israel: threatening to shut off the supply of ammunition Israel needs to continue the war.
The speech may have seemed like a victory lap for Israel’s embattled prime minister, but the true test of Netanyahu’s political skills will become clear only when Harris lays out the foreign policy agenda for her presidential campaign.
If the Democratic boycott of the speech, polls showing dissatisfaction with continued support for the Gaza war, and protesters outside the Capitol are any indication of the political currents within the party, Harris may conclude that it is time for greater action. Clarity and distance between the U.S. and Netanyahu The U.S. reports that nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza and has tied U.S. military aid to Israel to an end to the Gaza war and Israel’s participation in a deal to release hostages held by Hamas. The move would make Netanyahu’s speech a highly visible and symbolic turning point for his approval ratings. American He enjoyed partisanship throughout his political career.
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[1] Eli Clifton is a senior advisor at the Quincy Institute and an investigative reporter at Responsible Statecraft
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** M: Declaration.
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