Analysis

In address to both Republicans and Democrats, Netanyahu’s real audience never came up

PM still believes he can achieve a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia, and thus sought to make the case to its crown prince that only Israel can reach both US political parties

Lazar Berman

Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers an address to a joint session of the US Congress, in Washington, DC, July 25, 2024. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers an address to a joint session of the US Congress, in Washington, DC, July 25, 2024. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

WASHINGTON, DC — In the midst of an increasingly bitter — and utterly fascinating — US election fight, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brought hundreds of Democratic and Republican lawmakers together for Wednesday’s address to a special joint session of Congress.

On the face of it, the premier, a veteran observer of American politics, seemed to be making a conscious effort to offer enough to both parties to leave them feeling that their support was recognized and the other side wasn’t given a leg up in the elections.

Netanyahu thanked President Joe Biden four times — for his “tireless efforts” to free the Hamas hostages, for his visit after the October 7 attack, for his half-century of friendship as a “proud Irish American Zionist,” and for bringing together a coalition to foil Iran’s drone and missile attack on Israel on April 14.

Netanyahu sought to paint the army fighting Hamas in Gaza as a diverse, multi-religious and multi-ethnic force that Democrats could more easily identify with. He brought with him, and presented during the speech, Lt. Avichail Reuven, an Ethiopian Israeli who ran eight miles to join the fight against Hamas on October 7. The prime minister also recognized Master Sergeant Ashraf al Bahiri, a Bedouin soldier who battled Hamas terrorists in his base and on Kibbutz Be’eri.

Members of the Israeli military who have fought against Hamas, including on October 7, are applauded after being pointed out by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his speech to a joint meeting of Congress at the US Capitol on July 24, 2024 in Washington, DC.  (Drew ANGERER / AFP)

Netanyahu also had plenty of praise for Donald Trump, the former president running to return to the Oval Office. He thanked him for brokering the Abraham Accords, for recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, for confronting Iran, for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moving the US embassy there.

And in another nod to Republicans, he lauded the University of North Carolina fraternity brothers who protected a US flag from anti-Israel demonstrators, and ridiculed protesters as clueless woke stooges of Tehran.

Former US president and 2024 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on July 20, 2024. (Jim Watson/AFP)

Netanyahu also sought to present Israel’s fight against Iran-backed enemies as America’s fight.

“Now, ask yourself,” said Netanyahu, “which country ultimately stands in the way of Iran’s maniacal plans to impose radical Islam on the world? And the answer is clear: It’s America, the guardian of Western civilization and the world’s greatest power. That’s why Iran sees America as its greatest enemy.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers an address to a joint session of Congress, July 25, 2024 (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

“Iran’s regime has been fighting America from the moment it came to power,” he argued.

If the audience remembers one thing, said Netanyahu, it should be that “our enemies are your enemies, our fight is your fight, and our victory will be your victory.”

He sought to tie together the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the al-Qaeda attacks on 9/11, and Hamas’s invasion on October 7, calling them days “that will forever live in infamy.”

(FILE) In this file photo, smoke and flames erupt from the twin towers of the World Trade Center after commercial aircraft were deliberately crashed into the buildings in lower Manhattan, New York on September 11, 2001. (Photo by SETH MCALLISTER / AFP)

After the December 1941 surprise attack, the US embarked on a four-year campaign to bomb Japan into unconditional surrender before forcing a drastic transformation of the society’s morals and culture. In the wake of the 2001 al-Qaeda plane hijackings, America toppled the regimes in two countries and imposed new constitutions on both.

If October 7 is in a league with the worst surprise attacks on the US, then Israel’s response can be comparable, Netanyahu subtly argued.

Netanyahu’s true audience

While on the surface Netanyahu’s address hit on American history and values and the support of its recent presidents, the speech’s real audience wasn’t even mentioned.

Though the path forward was scrambled by Hamas’s attacks, Netanyahu believes that a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia is entirely attainable.

Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, not pictured, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

The Saudis have insisted that any normalization process must include a pathway toward a Palestinian state, but Netanyahu is convinced that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS, knows that his core interest — confronting his arch-enemy Iran — depends on a defense partnership with Israel and the US.

Only I can bring both parties together to make the case for the US committing to a renewed campaign against Iran and its proxies, Netanyahu was saying, and only Israel is openly fighting Tehran’s forces across the region.

While MBS was disappointed throughout the past decade by both Democratic and Republican administrations over their unwillingness to attack Iran directly after Tehran’s proxies attacked Saudi Arabia, Netanyahu pushed in his speech “a security alliance in the Middle East” with the US that would guarantee American involvement in the face of future Iranian aggression.

Such an idea is sure to be welcomed in Riyadh.

And not only was Netanyahu showing MBS that he is still willing to shine a light on Iran’s deleterious effects on the region, he also underscored how vigorously Israel is pushing back on the Iranian threat: “When Israel fights Hamas, we’re fighting Iran. When we fight Hezbollah, we’re fighting Iran. When we fight the Houthis, we’re fighting Iran.”

All of that is sure to play well in Riyadh. But that does not guarantee Netanyahu’s dream deal.

When he lands back in Israel on Sunday, Netanyahu will be under intense pressure to see through an agreement that would bring back hostages while continuing to break Hamas apart. If he does that, then he will have shown the Saudis that Israel is a useful, reliable partner with the ability to destroy its enemies — while keeping the US onboard as well.

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