U.S. Congress Wildly Applauds Netanyahu and His War Plans against Iran

Some of our American colleagues have compared the disgusting speech given by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to the U.S. Congress on July 24 to a “bizarre style Nuremberg rally”. But even more disgusting than the outright lies and calls to war of the Prime Minister, was the reaction of the Senators and Representatives gathered there, who gave him up to 52 standing ovations! And all that in the course of a one hour speech, which was also constantly interrupted by applause.

Most shockingly, Netanyahu claimed that Israel was not blocking the delivery of food to Gaza, that civilian deaths in Rafah were “practically none”, and that the war would continue until “total victory” over Hamas, with no apology for the at least 40,000 Palestinians who have died. Reveling in demagogy, he called the International Court of Justice “anti-Semitic” and accused the protesters demonstrating outside and in Israel of being puppets of Iran and Hamas who “stand with rapists and murderers”.

To their credit, about half of the Democratic Party elected officials did not attend the harangue, reflecting a possible shift away from the unconditional support for the extremist Netanyahu government defended till now by both parties. Senator Bernie Sanders boycotted the rally, calling the Israeli leader “not only a war criminal but a liar”. And while we very rarely have anything positive to report about the former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, on this issue, she commented that this was “by far the worst presentation of any foreign dignitary invited and honored with the privilege of addressing the Congress of the United States”. She herself spent time listening to family members of those kidnapped on Oct. 7 who demand an immediate ceasefire.

Presidential candidate Kamala Harris did meet with Benjamin Netanyahu later, and stated afterwards that she had pressed him to end the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, adding that “I will not be silent”. His previous meeting with President Biden was reportedly more cordial. There is growing opposition to the ongoing genocide in Gaza among the American population, in particular among Democrats, which may force a number of candidates to reconsider the policy.

Besides indicating in his speech in Congress that the genocide in Gaza will continue, Netanyahu came to his other main point: preparing for war against Iran. Since Israel can’t do it alone, he proposed that the two countries “forge a security alliance in the Middle East to counter the growing Iranian threat”, which he proposed to call “The Abraham Alliance”.