WASHINGTON — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday delivered a speech to Congress, slamming inside the House chamber and thousands outside as Israel’s war with Hamas rages on.
Netanyahu’s speech was the first to U.S. lawmakers in nearly a decade and the first since Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel killed 1,200 people. It comes as the Biden administration continues to push negotiators toward a cease-fire that could end the war in Gaza, where more than 39,000 people have been killed, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health.
“My friends, I came to assure you today of one thing: We will win,” he said. “Like Dec. 7, 1941, and Sept. 11, 2001, Oct. 7 is a day that will forever live in infamy.”
“For the forces of civilization to triumph, America and Israel must stand together,” Netanyahu added.
Netanyahu also directly called out the protests against his handling of the war in Gaza, both on college campuses and outside the Capitol.
“Incredibly, many anti-Israel protesters, many choose to stand with evil. They stand with Hamas. They stand with rapists and murderers,” he said.
“You have officially become Iran’s useful idiots,” he added.
He praised President Joe Biden, who he has known for 40 years and who has recently publicly criticized the prime minister’s war.
“I want to thank you for half a century of friendship to Israel and for being, as he says, ‘a proud Zionist,’” Netanyahu said. “Actually, he says, ‘a proud Irish-American Zionist.’”
Netanyahu is expected to meet with Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and former President Donald Trump while he is in the United States.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the first Palestinian woman to serve in Congress, held up a sign at Netanyahu that read: “War criminal” and “Guilty of genocide.”
Capitol Police also escorted three people out of the chamber who were wearing yellow T-shirts reading “SEAL THE DEAL NOW”.
