海角大神

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held court Wednesday within an extra-fortified U.S. Capitol, making the case that America鈥檚 security, liberty, and prosperity are interlinked with Israel鈥檚.聽

The speech, his first before both chambers of Congress in nearly a decade, marked what is likely his best opportunity until a new president is inaugurated in January to shore up U.S. political and military support.聽

His pitch comes amid a devastating war with Hamas, whose sponsor Iran reportedly may be just weeks from achieving nuclear capability. In bracing language and imagery, the prime minister 鈥撀燼n alum of one of Israel鈥檚 most elite special forces units 鈥� spoke in existential terms: life and death, liberty and tyranny, civilization and barbarity.聽

鈥淲e meet today at a crossroads of history,鈥� Mr. Netanyahu said, describing Iran鈥檚 鈥渁xis of terror鈥� as a threat not only to Israel but also to America and Arab nations. 鈥淥ur enemies are your enemies. Our fight is your fight. And our victory will be your victory.鈥�

Rising Iran-linked threats in Middle East

It鈥檚 a crucial moment geopolitically, he and his Republican allies argue.

The Israel-Hamas war threatens to spiral into a broader regional conflagration, with Iranian proxy Hezbollah already attacking Israel from the north. The Lebanese group is believed to have stockpiled more than 100,000 missiles, whose far greater range and precision than those used by Gaza-based Hamas pose a far greater threat to Israel. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently warned that Iran may be within a week or two of achieving nuclear weapons capability.

But it鈥檚 also a terrible moment politically. Much of Washington is consumed with the U.S. presidential campaign, which has seen dramatic turns over the past month.聽

Mr. Netanyahu will be meeting with President Joe Biden on Thursday, and GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump in Florida on Friday. But it鈥檚 Congress that holds not only the purse strings to U.S. aid, but also the most direct connection to U.S. taxpayers, who for decades have underwritten Israel鈥檚 military capabilities.

Netanyahu speech draws mixed reactions

Israel maintains strong Republican support, including among 海角大神s with deeply held biblical reasons for the alliance, beyond the geopolitical rationale.聽

鈥淔or some of us it goes even deeper than that, because it is a matter of faith,鈥� said GOP Speaker of the House Mike Johnson at his weekly press conference on Tuesday, in response to a question from the Monitor. 鈥淚n Genesis, 鈥� it says very clearly that God will bless the nation that blesses Israel and curse the nation that curses Israel.鈥澛�

That view aligns with Mr. Netanyahu鈥檚 central message: America鈥檚 support for Israel helps not only its ally, but itself. But while Republicans praised the speech as clear and inspiring, Democrats came away disappointed with the tone and lack of specifics.聽

鈥淚t was an unsurprising but unfortunate setback for the US-Israel relationship,鈥� said Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, who sits on the Foreign Relations Committee. Instead of thoughtful analysis, he said, it offered 鈥渁 lot of mindless war sloganeering.鈥�

Democratic support for Israel wavers

The once-ironclad support Israel enjoyed from Congress has shown widening cracks.聽聽

Though the prime minister received a formal bipartisan invitation from congressional leadership, dozens of Democrats skipped the speech, with some citing scheduling conflicts. Among them was Vice President Kamala Harris, who would normally sit on the rostrum behind Mr. Netanyahu, but was instead on the campaign trail as she appears poised to become the Democratic nominee for president.聽

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer notably declined to shake hands with the prime minister, whom Mr. Schumer has referred to聽as one of the four main barriers to peace in the Middle East.

Democrats and allied groups have increasingly voiced concerns about the Jewish state鈥檚 treatment of Palestinians 鈥� not only in Gaza, where tens of thousands have been killed in Israel鈥檚 retaliatory military offense following the brutal Oct. 7 Hamas attack, but also in the West Bank.聽

鈥淚 was expecting to hear at some point, some recognition of the loss of innocent Palestinian lives,鈥� said Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, a former U.S. Navy captain. He said he knows firsthand the difficulty of urban combat, but sees room for improvement by Israel.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the sole Palestinian American in Congress, sat draped in a Palestinian kaffiyeh holding up a small sign reading 鈥淲AR CRIMINAL鈥� until a House official told her to put it away.聽

Many Democrats don鈥檛 see Mr. Netanyahu engaging seriously with a postwar vision for peace.

鈥淚 want to talk about an actual solution that gets us to peace in the Middle East, that brings home the hostages, and that provides security for Palestinian people who are being killed every single day,鈥� says Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, who chairs the large Congressional Progressive Caucus and said Tuesday she planned to skip the speech in favor of meeting with families of Israeli hostages.

One freed hostage and relatives of others still in captivity聽accompanied Mr. Netanyahu, who acknowledged them in the crowd 鈥撀燼long with several soldiers whom he honored. Some 120 hostages are still being held in Gaza after Hamas kidnapped them in the Oct. 7 attack, in which 1,200 were killed. Eight of the hostages are American. Relatives see the high-profile visit from Mr. Netanyahu has an opportunity to exert further pressure on the prime minister to secure a deal.聽

鈥淚 want to be there to hear him say we are committed, we鈥檙e going to do this, we鈥檙e going to find a path, we鈥檙e working diligently to make sure it gets done,鈥� says Efrat Moshkoviz of New Jersey, whose abducted niece Naama Levy 鈥� a 19-year-old Israeli soldier 鈥撀燽ecame one of the first hostage faces to circulate in the media, with a video of her bloodied in a jeep in Gaza. 鈥淚 want him to feel that pressure and hear our voices.鈥澛�

鈥淜ing Bibi鈥� a controversial messenger

Mr. Netanyahu is in some ways the best person and the worst person to make the case for more U.S. support for Israel.聽聽

Having lived in the U.S. during his youth and early career, he is fluent in English and at home in America.

He has long fashioned himself as an ardent defender of Israeli security. When his brother Yonatan became a national hero after being killed while commanding the 1973 Entebbe raid that rescued nearly all 106 hostages taken in a plane hijacking, Mr. Netanyahu took up the mantle. With the help of such credentials, Mr. Netanyahu transformed himself from a shy young man into a master of shaping media narratives, as chronicled in the 2018 documentary 鈥淜ing Bibi.鈥澛犅�

Now serving in an unprecedented sixth term as prime minister, Mr. Netanyahu鈥檚 image has become intertwined with the image of Israel. And as he has increasingly allied himself with right-wing parties in Israel鈥檚 fractured coalition politics, that image 鈥� of both him and the country 鈥� has become more controversial. That has made it harder politically for Democrats to demonstrate unqualified support for Israel.

On Thursday, hundreds of Jewish Voice for Peace activists protested near the Capitol. About 200 of them were arrested.聽

鈥淲e鈥檙e appalled that the U.S. would invite somebody who鈥檚 been considered a war criminal here to address Congress, and we鈥檙e demanding an immediate arms embargo,鈥� says Noa Grayevsky, who was born in Israel but emigrated as a baby to the U.S. with her family.聽

Congress has approved聽at least $12.5 billion聽in military aid to Israel since the Oct. 7 attack.聽According to figures from the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the nearly 10 months of fighting, though the ministry does not distinguish between civilian and militant deaths.

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for both Mr. Netanyahu and Hamas this spring. Israel and its allies criticized the ICC for a lack of moral clarity, given Hamas鈥檚 barbaric attack and pattern of intermingling with the civilian population and hiding in underground tunnels.

鈥淔or Israel, every civilian death is a tragedy,鈥� said Mr. Netanyahu. 鈥淔or Hamas, it鈥檚 a strategy.鈥�

An Israeli-Arab alliance against Iran?

He spoke of a new alliance in the Middle East of Israel and its Arab neighbors, who came together this spring to defend his country against a barrage of missiles from Iran. He described the alliance as 鈥渁 natural extension of the groundbreaking Abraham Accords鈥� 鈥� a Trump initiative that normalized relations between Israel and several Arab states 鈥� which could counter Iran and its proxies.

鈥淚 thought the prime minister did an outstanding job of telling people exactly why this is important 鈥� not just for the people of Israel, but for folks in Nebraska,鈥� said Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts afterward, speaking of his home state. 鈥淭his is about taking on the evils of terrorism, and being on the frontline there to prevent it from spreading further.鈥�

The prime minister framed this moment as an existential one for the Jewish people, who emerged from the Holocaust to establish the state of Israel three years after the end of World War II.

鈥溾�楴ever again鈥� is now,鈥� he said, before adapting a line from Winston Churchill. 鈥淕ive us the tools faster, and we鈥檒l finish the job faster.鈥�