Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday afternoon delivered his fourth-ever address to a joint session of US Congress, in which he called for a decisive victory over the Hamas terror group and launched a novel approach to dealing with the threat posed by Iran.
“It is a profound honor to address this citadel of democracy for the fourth time," Netanyahu opened his speech.
“In the Middle East, Iran’s axis of terror confronts Israel, America and our Arab friends. This is not a clash between civilizations, it’s a clash between barbarism and civilizations. It’s a clash between those who glorify death and those who sanctify life," the premier said.
“For the forces of civilization to triumph, Israel and America must stand together," he added. "We will win."
Turning to the Hamas-led October 7 massacre, Netanyahu said that "heaven turned into hell" when 3,000 Palestinian terrorists stormed into Israel and butchered 1,200 people.
"These monsters, they raped women, they beheaded men, they burned babies alive, killed parents in front of their parents, and children in front of their parents," he said.
Netanyahu's address came some nine months after Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on October 7, murdering around 1,200 civilians and soldiers, wounding thousands more and taking about 250 hostages back to Gaza.
The premier's visit to Washington also comes amid ongoing tensions with Iran-backed terrorist organizations across the Middle East, including Yemen's Houthis and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
With this speech, Netanyahu surpassed British wartime leader Winston Churchill for the most joint-session speeches by any foreign leader. Netanyahu previously addressed Congress in 2015, 2011 and 1996.
It marked the 10th time an Israeli leader has addressed America's national legislature, starting with former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1976 and, most recently, President Isaac Herzog on July 19, 2023.
Netanyahu was invited by congressional leadership including speaker Mike Johnson and Senate leader Chuck Schumer.
The invite "symbolizes the US and Israel's enduring relationship and will offer Prime Minister Netanyahu the opportunity to share the Israeli government's vision for defending their democracy, combating terror, and establishing just and lasting peace in the region," they said in June.
Though it is customary for vice presidents who additionally serve as presidents of the Senate to attend speeches by foreign leaders, likely Democratic nominee for the White House Kamala Harris declined to preside due to what her office said was a scheduling conflict.
Instead, Sen. Ben Cardin, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and is Jewish and pro-Israel, sat beside Johnson and behind Netanyahu during Wednesday's address.
Dozens of Democratic lawmakers boycotted the event, including former House speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Rep. Thomas Massie, a libertarian who opposes aid to the Jewish state, was the sole Republican to skip the prime minister's speech.
Netanyahu arrived in Washington on Monday, seeking to solidify bipartisan support following US President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the 2024 election and amid ongoing conflicts on Israel's borders.
His visit has been marred by mass protests across Washington DC, including a sit-in at the Capitol last night organised by “Jewish voice for peace”, a radical anti-Israel group.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest near the US Capitol as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress on July 24, 2024, in Washington, DC. (Photo by andrew thomas / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW THOMAS/AFP via Getty Images)
On Thursday, the longtime Israeli leader will meet with Biden at the White House, marking Netanyahu's first invitation there since he returned to office following the Jewish state's 2022 election.
Netanyahu will meet separately with Harris later that day, followed by a sit-down with former president and current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday.
