From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, July 24, 2024
PM says confidant hostage deal can succeed, several hostage family members walk out of speech
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells a joint session of Congress that he is confident that a hostage release and ceasefire deal can succeed.
Netanyahu introduces several members of hostage families who have accompanied him to Washington.
He describes Noa Argamani’s abduction and tells of the time he met her mother Liora as she was dying of cancer. She told him, he says, that her final wish was to see Noa one more time before she died.
Netanyahu describes Operation Arnon, the raid that rescued Noa and three other hostages.
“Noa, we are so thrilled to have you with us. Thank you,” says Netanyahu to a standing ovation.
The prime minister also points out other hostage families, including Eliyahu Bibas, the grandfather of the two small Bibas boys.
“We have with us also the families of American hostages,” Netanyahu says to applause. “The pain these families have endured is beyond words.”
“I will not rest until all their loved ones are home,” he says, as the crowd stands.
During his speech, several relatives of the hostages being held in Gaza walk out of Netanyahu’s address.
Netanyahu then says he is confident efforts to reach a deal can succeed.
He thanks President Joe Biden for “his tireless efforts” on behalf of the hostages and their families.
He thanks the president for his support after October 7, for calling Hamas “sheer evil,” for dispatching two aircraft carriers to deter a wider war, and for his visit “that will never be forgotten.” He thanks Biden for half of century of friendship with Israel and for being a proud Zionist — or, he says, as Biden calls himself, “a proud Irish-American Zionist.”
Netanyahu pledges not to rest until the hostages are home, evoking applause from everyone in the room except for a dozen or so hostage families who have remained, but are unimpressed by Netanyahu’s words.
The families of the eight American hostages had issued statements urging Netanyahu not to speak today unless it was to announce a deal, which they understood after meeting him this week that he would not do.
Netanyahu then introduces IDF soldiers who fought in Gaza. The crowd stands for an Ethiopian-Israeli officer who ran eight miles to the front to fight on October 7.
“We all honor your remarkable heroism,” says Netanyahu.
He then introduces an IDF Bedouin soldier Ashraf Bahiri who killed terrorists on October 7 in Kibbutz Be’eri. Netanyahu notes that Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Druze soldiers “fought together with tremendous bravery.”
He introduces two more soldiers who were injured on October 7. One raises his crutch to loud cheers.
“These are the soldiers of Israel,” he says.
“The nation shall rise like lions,” he says, quoting scripture. “They have risen like lions, The lions of Judah. The lions of Israel.”
Netanyahu stresses that IDF soldiers come from every race, religion, ethnicity, and political orientation.
