On Wednesday July 24 an historic speech was delivered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to a joint meeting of the US Congress. It was his fourth such speech in America. The 55-minute speech was quite important indeed as the struggle between civilisation and barbarism was elegantly stated.
But leftist haters and rioters took to the streets, burning American flags and hoisting flags of Hamas. And just to further confirm what we already knew about her, Kamala Harris, along with some other Democratic leaders, refused to even attend the speech. Neither did she utter a word of censure about these anti-Semitic and anti-Israel protests.
It’s a pity they stayed away – they might have learned something had they showed up. So much can be highlighted from this speech but let me offer just a few large segments from it. The following are the words of the Prime Minister:
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We meet today at a crossroads of history. Our world is in upheaval. In the Middle East, Iran’s axis of terror confronts America, Israel and our Arab friends. This is not a clash of civilizations. It’s a clash between barbarism and civilization. It’s a clash between those who glorify death and those who sanctify life.
For the forces of civilization to triumph, America and Israel must stand together. Because when we stand together, something very simple happens. We win. They lose.
And my friends, I came to assure you today of one thing: we will win.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Like December 7th, 1941, and September 11th, 2001, October 7th is a day that will forever live in infamy.
It was the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah. It began as a perfect day. Not a cloud in the sky. Thousands of young Israelis were celebrating at an outdoor music festival. And suddenly, at 6:29 a.m., as children were still sleeping soundly in their beds in the towns and kibbutzim next to Gaza, suddenly heaven turned into hell. Three thousand Hamas terrorists stormed into Israel. They butchered 1,200 people from 41 countries, including 39 Americans. Proportionately, compared to our population size, that’s like 20 9/11s in one day. And these monsters, they raped women, they beheaded men, they burnt babies alive, they killed parents in front of their children and children in front of their parents. They dragged 255 people, both living and dead, into the dark dungeons of Gaza.
Israel has already brought home 135 of these hostages, including seven who were freed in daring rescue operations. One of those freed hostages, Noa Argamani, is here in the gallery sitting near my wife Sara.
On the morning of October 7th, the entire world saw Noa’s look of desperation as she was violently abducted to Gaza on the back of a motorcycle. I met Noa’s mother Liora a few months ago. She was dying of cancer. She said to me, “Prime Minister, I have one final wish. I wish to hug my daughter Noa one last time before I die.”
Two months ago, I authorized a breathtaking commando rescue operation. Our Special Forces, including a heroic officer named Arnon Zmora, who fell in this battle, rescued Noa and three other hostages.
I think it’s one of the most moving things, when Noa was reunited with her mother, Liora, and her mother’s last wish came true.
Noa, we’re so thrilled to have you with us today. Thank you.
Many hostage families are also here with us today, including Eliyahu Bibas. Eliyahu Bibas is the grandfather of those two beautiful red-headed boys, the Bibas boys, toddlers. And they were taken hostage with their mother and Eliyahu’s son. The entire family was taken hostage. Two beautiful red-haired children taken hostage. What monsters.
And with us also is Iris Haim, whose son Yotam bravely escaped Hamas captivity with two other Israelis, and tragically they were killed making their way back to our lines.
We have with us also the families of American hostages. They’re here.
The pain these families have endured is beyond words. I met with them again yesterday and I promised them this. I will not rest until all their loved ones are home. All of them.
As we speak, we’re actively engaged in intensive efforts to secure their release, and I’m confident that these efforts can succeed. Some of them are taking place right now.
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With us today is Yechiel Leiter, the father of one of those Maccabees. Yehiel’s father escaped the Holocaust and found refuge in America. As a young man, Yechiel moved to Israel and raised a family of eight children. He named his eldest son Moshe after his late father. Moshe became an exemplary officer in one of our elite commando units. He served with distinction for two decades while raising six beautiful children of his own.
On October 7th, Moshe volunteered to return to combat. Four weeks later, he was killed when a booby-trap mine exploded in a tunnel shaft right next to a Mosque. At his son’s funeral Yechiel said this: “If the State of Israel had not been established after the Holocaust, the image engraved in our collective memory would have been the photograph of that helpless Jewish boy in the Warsaw Ghetto holding his hands up in the air with Nazi riffles pointed at him. But because of the birth of Israel,” Yechiel continued, “because of the courage of soldiers like my son Moshe, the Jewish people are no longer helpless in the face of our enemies.”
Yechiel, please rise so we can honor your son’s sacrifice. And I pledge to you and to all the bereaved families of Israel, some of whom are in this hall today, the sacrifice of your loved ones will not be in vain. It will not be in vain because for Israel, “never again” must never be an empty promise. It must always remain a sacred vow. And after October 7th, “never again” is now.
My friends,
Defeating our brutal enemies requires both courage and clarity. Clarity begins by knowing the difference between good and evil. Yet incredibly many anti-Israel protesters, many choose to stand with evil. They stand with Hamas. They stand with rapists and murderers. They stand with people who came into the kibbutzim, into a home, the parents hid the children, the two babies, in the attic, in a secret attic. They murdered the family, the parents, they found the secret latch to the hidden attic and then they murdered the babies. These protesters stand with them. They should be ashamed of themselves.
They refuse to make the simple distinction between those who target terrorists and those who target civilians, between the democratic State of Israel and the terrorist thugs of Hamas. We recently learned from the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, that Iran is funding and promoting anti-Israel protests in America. They want to disrupt America. So these protesters burned American flags even on the 4th of July. And I wish to salute the fraternity brothers at the University of North Carolina who protected the American flag, protected the American flag against these anti-Israel protesters.
For all we know, Iran is funding the anti-Israel protests that are going on right now outside this building—not that many, but they’re there—and throughout the city. Well, I have a message for these protesters: When the Tyrants of Tehran, who hang gays from cranes and murder women for not covering their hair, are praising, promoting and funding you, you have officially become Iran’s useful idiots.
It’s amazing, absolutely amazing. Some of these protesters hold up signs proclaiming “Gays for Gaza.” They might as well hold up signs saying “Chickens for KFC.”
These protesters chant “From the river to the sea.” But many don’t have a clue what river and what sea they’re talking about. They not only get an F in geography, they get an F in history. They call Israel a colonialist state. Don’t they know that the Land of Israel is where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob prayed, where Isaiah and Jeremiah preached and where David and Solomon ruled?
For nearly four thousand years, the land of Israel has been the homeland of the Jewish people. It’s always been our home; it will always be our home.
It’s not only the campus protesters who get it wrong. It’s also the people who run those campuses. Eighty years after the Holocaust, the presidents of Harvard, Penn, and I’m ashamed to say my alma mater MIT couldn’t bring themselves to condemn the calls for the genocide of Jews. Remember what they said? They said, it depends on the context. Well, let me give these befuddled academics a little context.
Antisemitism is the world’s oldest hatred. For centuries, the massacre of Jews was always preceded by wild accusations. We were accused of everything from poisoning wells to spreading plagues to using the blood of slaughtered children to bake Passover matzos. These preposterous antisemitic lies led to persecution, mass murder and ultimately to history’s worst genocide, the Holocaust.
Now, just as malicious lies were levelled for centuries at the Jewish people, malicious lies are now being levelled at the Jewish state. No, no. Don’t applaud. Listen. The outrageous slanders that paint Israel as racist and genocidal are meant to delegitimize Israel, to demonize the Jewish State and to demonize Jews everywhere. And no wonder, no wonder we’ve witnessed an appalling rise of antisemitism in America and around the world.
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Despite these times of upheaval, I’m hopeful about the future. I’m hopeful about Israel because my people, the Jewish people, emerged from the depths of hell, from dispossession and genocide, and against all odds we restored our sovereignty in our ancient homeland, we built a powerful and vibrant democracy, a democracy that pushes the boundaries of innovation for the betterment of all humanity.
I’m hopeful about America because I’m hopeful about Americans. I know how much the people of this country have sacrificed to defend freedom. America will continue to be a force for light and good in a dark and dangerous world. For free peoples everywhere, America remains the beacon of liberty its extraordinary founders envisioned back in 1776.
Working together, I’m confident that our two nations will vanquish the tyrants and terrorists who threaten us both. As Israel’s prime minister, I promise you this: no matter how long it takes, no matter how difficult the road ahead, Israel will not relent. Israel will not bend. We will defend our land. We will defend our people. We will fight until we achieve victory. Victory of liberty over tyranny, victory of life over death, victory of good over evil. That’s our solemn commitment.
And we will continue to work with the United States and our Arab partners to transform a troubled region, from a backwater of oppression, poverty and war into a thriving oasis of dignity, prosperity and peace. In this noble mission, as in many others, Israel will always remain America’s indispensable ally. Through thick and thin, in good times and in bad, Israel will always be your loyal friend and your steadfast partner.
On behalf of the people of Israel, I came here today to say: Thank you, America. Thank you for your support and solidarity. Thank you for standing with Israel in our hour of need. Together, we shall defend our common civilization. Together, we shall secure a brilliant future for both our nations.
May God bless Israel.
May God bless America.
And may God bless the great alliance between Israel and America forever.
Kamala Harris is entitled to her opinion, but it does seem to me that refusing to listen to a foreign head of state addressing a joint session of Congress reveals a serious character flaw that disqualifies her for the Presidency.
Yes quite so Joan. She can have an opinion, but she displayed fundamental political and leadership flaws. She is seeking to become leader of the free world; to deliberately shirk being present at a joint sitting of Congress with America’s greatest ally and leader of the only free and prosperous democracy in the entire Middle East is the height of irresponsibility and childishness. It simply shows the world what a radical leftist she is and that she has as low a view of Israel as she does of America. As the Prime Minister rightly said, ‘This is not a war with Israel but a war with America.’ Kamala’s appalling snub demonstrated that she cares about neither country.
How can he mention the help of Biden? I mean seriously?????
Shame on Kamala not attending. That is disrespectful to another leader. It further shows her weak leadership
Kamala Harris is entitled to her opinion, but it does seem to me that refusing to listen to a foreign head of state addressing a joint session of Congress reveals a serious character flaw that disqualifies her for the Presidency.
Yes quite so Joan. She can have an opinion, but she displayed fundamental political and leadership flaws. She is seeking to become leader of the free world; to deliberately shirk being present at a joint sitting of Congress with America’s greatest ally and leader of the only free and prosperous democracy in the entire Middle East is the height of irresponsibility and childishness. It simply shows the world what a radical leftist she is and that she has as low a view of Israel as she does of America. As the Prime Minister rightly said, ‘This is not a war with Israel but a war with America.’ Kamala’s appalling snub demonstrated that she cares about neither country.
How can he mention the help of Biden? I mean seriously?????
Shame on Kamala not attending. That is disrespectful to another leader. It further shows her weak leadership