Netanyahu’s speech to Congress was uninspiring and directionless

Only those who still harbor any expectations of Israel’s embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were disappointed by his speech to a joint meeting of the US Congress on Wednesday. For the rest of us, it was the same old Netanyahu: all hype and no substance; cliches over content. He was cynical in exploiting the hostages, whether still in captivity or released, parading them along with soldiers and officers who risked their lives in the war. As always, he was economical with the truth, and all for the sake of his own vanity and political survival.

It was argued that this Netanyahu speech, although delivered in Washington, was mainly intended for Israel’s domestic audience. In fact, its messages were chiefly for American consumption, mainly because most Israelis are not falling for his empty rhetoric about “total victory” and his pretense that releasing the hostages is his priority. But the optics of the event were directed at the audience back home, in an attempt to redeem his credibility and reputation as a statesman who can still play on the biggest international stages.

Those present at the Capitol willingly swallowed his rhetoric, but it was worth paying more attention to the relatives of the hostages. Either those in the gallery in Congress who wore T-shirts reading “Seal The Deal NOW” and consequently were removed from the hall and arrested, or those watching in Israeli TV studios who were holding back the tears as they had hoped that Netanyahu, because he had taken the trouble to be away from the country in these tough days, would deliver a message that a deal had actually been reached. Their disappointment was understandably visible.

Instead, it became apparent that Netanyahu’s speech had three aims. First, to receive US support for continuing the war. Second, to maintain the flow of American weapons and ammunition. And, lastly, to attack the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice in order to find a partner to help derail any legal proceedings against Israel and against himself personally.

Its messages were chiefly for American consumption, mainly because most Israelis are not falling for his empty rhetoric

Yossi Mekelberg

Netanyahu received repeated rounds of applause from those present at his tedious, nearly hour-long speech, but about half of the congressional Democrats skipped it, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn. This was more than twice the number of Democrats who could not bear to attend a similar previous occasion, when Netanyahu’s aim was to upset Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear deal.

Pelosi later posted on X that the speech was “by far the worst presentation of any foreign dignitary invited and honored with the privilege of addressing the Congress of the United States,” and she should know, considering her long service in that Congress.

One of Netanyahu’s routine acts when in the US, or his “schtick,” as they call it there, is to present the alliance between the US and Israel as one between equal partners. And he takes this even further, portraying Israel as protecting American interests in the Middle East. But on this occasion he went as far as claiming that “Israel fights on the front line of civilization,” that American cities are safer because of that and, by doing it, “we help keep Americans’ boots off the ground.” He added: “We’re not only protecting ourselves; we’re protecting you.”

This is what American legislators and those they represent love to hear, whether true or not, and unsurprisingly so considering the nation’s traumatic experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq. But the reality is very different when we consider that, in the immediate aftermath of Oct. 7, Biden sent two aircraft carriers to the Eastern Mediterranean, including the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest warship, to deter Iran or Hezbollah from joining the Israel-Hamas conflict. Moreover, since the beginning of the war, it is estimated that the US has enacted legislation providing at least $12.5 billion in military aid to Israel.

But for all the expressions of gratitude to President Joe Biden in Netanyahu’s speech, there was a barely veiled criticism of the former’s holding back of an increased supply of weaponry, with the implication that the onus is on the current American administration to achieve “total victory.” “Give us the tools faster and we’ll finish the job faster,” he said.

This might ring true with Israel’s supporters, but instead of repeatedly giving Netanyahu a standing ovation, they should have asked him: How is it possible that those weapons — which according to local authorities in Gaza have already killed 39,000 Palestinians, many of them civilians and among them thousands of children, possibly implicating both Israel and potentially the US in war crimes — are yet to achieve this victory? Instead, Israel’s prime minister repeated his mantra that victory was within sight, something that he has been constantly repeating during the course of this war, with no evidence to support it.

Keeping his coalition intact is more important to him not only than Palestinian lives, but also the lives of the hostages

Yossi Mekelberg

Particularly appalling is the Israeli government’s lack of any strategic outlook, either for a ceasefire and the release of hostages or for a “day-after,” which can only suggest that this war will continue to claim lives and inflict suffering upon many more people, to the tune of American legislators’ applause.

Netanyahu was careful not to commit to any deal with Hamas, because keeping his coalition intact is more important to him not only than Palestinian lives, but also the lives of the hostages. He was more interested in the heart emoji that his National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir sent him on X after the speech than sending the Israeli negotiation team to Doha, the departure of which has once more been postponed.

It has been revealed that four more hostages have been killed while in captivity, at least one of them by Israeli military fire. At this rate and with no ceasefire deal in the offing, who knows how many of them will return alive and in what condition?

Perhaps naively, it might have been expected of Netanyahu that at long last he would find the courage, while thousands of miles from home, to at least hint at his responsibility for the failures of Oct. 7 and show some remorse, maybe some regrets for all the innocent lives lost. But this is not in his nature and especially not when his wife Sarah and son Yair are watching from the gallery.

The speech at Capitol Hill was a home game, for which only his own supporters showed up, while most of his critics watched it on the screen. Have we learnt anything new from Netanyahu’s speech? Not at all. It was just another illustration of his populist rhetoric, which has appeal in some quarters in Washington. But this will not end the war in Gaza or avert one with Hezbollah and it will not hasten either the return of the hostages or a future of security based on peace with the Palestinians. Neither will it put Israeli society back on the tracks after Netanyahu derailed it with his assault on the country’s democratic institutions.

Without rectifying all of this, a speech is just a speech and time sadly trudges by without favor for the Israeli and the Palestinian people, as well as the rest of the international community.

• Yossi Mekelberg is professor of international relations and an associate fellow of the MENA Program at Chatham House. X: @YMekelberg