In fiery speech to Congress, Netanyahu vows 'total victory' in Gaza and denounces US protesters

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER, FARNOUSH AMIRI and ASHRAF KHALIL
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged in a scathing speech to Congress on Wednesday to achieve “total victory” against Hamas and denounced American opponents of the war in Gaza as “idiots,” taking a combative stance in a visit the Biden administration has hoped will yield progress in negotiations to end the fighting.

Netanyahu used the high-profile address to a joint meeting of Congress to emphasize longstanding and close ties between the United States and Israel. But the speech put in sharp relief the divisions in American society stirred by the war, with dozens of Democratic lawmakers boycotting the address and thousands of protesters outside the Capitol condemning the war and the humanitarian crisis created by it.

Some of the protests near the Capitol turned chaotic, including within a few hundred yards of the tightly guarded Capitol grounds. Protesters outside nearby Union Station lowered American flags and raised Palestinian ones. Officers on streets surrounding the Capitol brawled with demonstrators, swinging batons and spraying tear gas.

Speaking for nearly an hour to frequent applause from U.S. lawmakers, as well as stony silence from many leading Democrats, Netanyahu said the U.S. has a shared interest in his country’s fight against Hamas and other Iran-backed armed groups.

“America and Israel must stand together. When we stand together something really simple happens: We win, they lose,” said Netanyahu, who wore a yellow pin expressing solidarity with the Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

But the Israeli leader soon pivoted to a darker tone as he derided those protesting the war on college campuses and elsewhere in the U.S., gesturing to demonstrations happening on the streets outside the Capitol. He called protesters “useful idiots” for Israel’s adversaries, and said critics of his conduct of the war were supporters of Hamas.

Netanyahu — making his first trip abroad since the war started — made no direct mention of months of U.S.-led mediation for a cease-fire and hostage-release. Yet his remarks, while combative, did not appear to close the door on a deal.

“Israel will fight until we destroy Hamas’s military capabilities and its rule in Gaza and bring all our hostages home,” he said. “That’s what total victory means. And we will settle for nothing less.”

Hostages freed from Gaza and families of those still in captivity listened in the House chamber. Security removed protesters in the gallery who rose to display T-shirts with slogans demanding an end to the war and the freeing of remaining hostages.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American serving Congress, went a step further, holding a sign that said “WAR CRIMINAL” on one side and “GUILTY OF GENOCIDE” on the other. Tlaib is one of Netanyahu’s most strident critics in Congress and was censured for her comments last year against the Israel-Hamas war, which has killed more than 39,000 in Gaza.

She has relatives in the West Bank and represents a Michigan district with many Palestinian Americans.

Netanyahu steered away from discussing efforts by the United States and Arab allies to negotiate an end to the fighting and a release of surviving hostages seized by Hamas-led militants. He accused American protesters of the war of standing with the militants who he said killed babies.

“These protesters that stand with them, they should be ashamed of themselves,” he said. Some 1,200 people in Israel were killed in the Oct. 7 attack that started the war.

Netanyahu — who is frequently accused of wading into U.S. politics in favor of conservative and Republican causes — started his remarks with praise of President Joe Biden. But he turned to lavishing praise on former president and current presidential contender Donald Trump “for all he’s done for Israel.”

Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday, and with Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Friday.

Kentucky Republican Rep. Andy Barr praised the prime minister’s speech as an exhortation to see Israeli and American interests as intertwined.

“Why should members of Congress, why should the American people defend Israel in their moment of need? Because it is in the national security interest of the United States to defeat Hamas and other Iranian proxies,” Barr said.