In defense of Israel

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Thursday the 25th of July.

Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

Up first, Netanyahu’s speech.

The Prime Minister of Israel arrived in Washington on Monday, but was not greeted by any American officials. House Speaker Mike Johnson invited Benjamin Netanyahu several months ago, when the war in Gaza was still headline news. Now more domestic issues have taken priority.

REICHARD: President Biden cited his COVID diagnosis as reason to reschedule a meeting with Netanyahu. Vice President Kamala Harris declined to attend the prime minister’s address yesterday to a joint session of Congress.

Cold welcome aside, Netanyahu’s speech covered antisemitism, the war in Gaza, and the future of the Middle East.

NETANYAHU: As Britain fought on the front lines of civilization, Winston Churchill appealed to Americans with these famous words: “Give us the tools, and we’ll finish the job.” Today as Israel fights on the front line of civilization, I too appeal to America: give us the tools faster, and we’ll finish the job faster.

BROWN: What does the Prime Minister’s speech mean for American audiences?

Joining us now to talk about it and our government’s response is WORLD Correspondent Jill Nelson.

REICHARD: Jill, good morning.

JILL NELSON: Good morning, Mary.

REICHARD: Well, this is now the fourth time Netanyahu has addressed Congress and one of his most memorable speeches was in 2015, under President Obama. Netanyahu criticized him for signing the Iran Nuclear Deal.

Jill, what’s the context for this visit, and what was at stake for Netanyahu coming into this speech?

NELSON: Well, first of all, it’s really an interesting time in American politics, so I think he was there in part to keep Israel on the agenda and to try to shore up continued support for the war against Hamas in Gaza. He has been under attack both here and back home in Israel for the way he’s conducted the war and of course the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has dominated American news cycles. And then you have you know international bodies - I’m thinking of like the ICC, the International Criminal Court - that have accused Israel of genocide in Gaza. So I think this was also an opportunity for Netanyahu to defend Israel’s actions in Gaza.

REICHARD: Any parts in particular that stood out to you from what he said?

NELSON: He really covered a lot of ground. But he did take time to thank Biden for his support and for his friendship to Israel. He also thanked Trump for his part in brokering the Abraham Accords in 2020, that was the peace deal between Israel and moderate Sunni Arab nations, including United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, in particular. And then, he said he deeply appreciated America’s support, but at the same time he pushed hard for fast tracking American aid. But what he really spent I think quite a bit of time doing was defending Israel’s offensive in Gaza and addressing accusations of genocide there. I thought it was notable that he mentioned John Spencer, in particular. He’s an expert on urban warfare. I’ve actually followed some of his work, and he really pointed out specifically John Spencer’s conclusion that Israel has implemented more precautions to limit civilian harm than any nation in history. And of course he had to address a potential hostage deal. This is a very contentious issue back at home. One of the former hostages was sitting in the gallery next to his wife, Sarah. And of course there were other family members in attendance as well, and he pointed out that there are efforts in the works to free hostages. And then finally, he did briefly touch on the future of Gaza. This is a big question mark in negotiations right now and his perspective is that there should be a civilian administration run by Palestinians, and he emphasized this part, who are not seeking to destroy Israel.

REICHARD: Now we were watching all of this through C-SPAN, so as far as that limitation goes, what about how the audience reacted? What was the mood in the room, what did you see?

NELSON: Well, similar to his 2015 speech, there were many enthusiastic standing ovations with some in the gallery of course refusing to stand and clap. This time I feel like he was more to the point. He jumped right in. And you know I also noticed—I was thinking back to his 2015 speech when he had author and Holocaust Survivor, Ellie Wiesel, in the gallery sitting next to his wife Sarah—a lot of emotional appeal there. This time, as I mentioned, he had a former hostage there, but also he pointed out four Israeli soldiers in the audience. One was an Ethiopian Jew and then one was a Muslim Bedouin. And I think what Bibi was trying to do here is challenge this progressive narrative that Israel is a white colonial state engaged in genocide against an oppressed minority.

REICHARD: Well, President Biden won't be in office this time next year so Netanyahu knows he’ll either be dealing with Donald Trump or whoever wins the Democratic nomination. What do we know about Kamala Harris’ posture towards Middle East policy if she does become commander-in-chief?

NELSON: Well, I think we can expect that she'll be more critical of Israel and would likely take a decidedly different approach than Biden. She was noticeably absent yesterday and usually the vice president oversees a joint session of Congress. So there's been some speculation that she's trying to distance herself from Biden's overall posture toward Israel. But historically she's pushed for a tougher stance, this past year, on Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza and has really emphasized the humanitarian crisis and death toll while avoiding the topic of Israel's national security crisis. So I think going forward there's a couple things that I would be watching for: One will she align herself with the more progressive elements of the Democratic party and two does she really understand the regional dynamics and the Iran threat in their quest to destabilize the region. But also the kind of growing potential realignment in the region that includes those moderate Sunni Arab countries.

REICHARD: Well, you’ve studied Middle East politics for years and years. Any other takeaways from this?

NELSON: It's interesting also to notice or to remember that Israel is also facing a threat from the northern border. He touched on that as well and specifically mentioned the tens of thousands of Israelis who have had to leave their homes up in the north. This is due to continued rocket fire and missile attacks from Hezbollah. So, I think he spent a lot of time also addressing the Iran threat and the connection between Iran, what's happening in Gaza, Hamas's attempt to exterminate Israel, but also Hezbollah’s quest to do the same. And I think that's going to continue to be a front that we’re going to keep an eye on. Israel is continually concerned that this could break out into an all-out war with Iran and I think he did a good job highlighting the Iran threat in his speech as well.

REICHARD: Jill Nelson is a WORLD Correspondent on the foreign affairs beat. Jill, thanks so much.

NELSON: Thanks for having me.

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