Netanyahu, in Rousing Speech to Congress, Proposes a New ‘Abraham Alliance’ Against Iran and for Peace With Arab States

Prime Minister Netanyahu, in his meetings with President Biden and Vice President Harris on Thursday and President Trump on Friday, will not only be buoyed by a rapturous reception in Congress but by plans to make a post-war peace not only in the Middle East but in American foreign policy as well. The Israeli leader, toward the end of his speech, suggested that after the war a wider peace between Israel and her Arab neighbors could be sought under the name “the Abraham Alliance.” It would build on both the Abraham Accords launched by President Trump and on President Biden’s idea for a NATO-like alliance against Iran.In his fourth speech to a joint session of Congress, Mr. Netanyahu praised the Israeli-American alliance and made sure to strike a bipartisan tone, pointedly praising both Mr. Biden and President Trump. Yet, perhaps preparing for the meeting with the president, he criticized Mr. Biden’s attempt at stopping the Israel Defense Force from entering Rafah. Mr. Netanyahu is arguing that that operation has weakened Hamas’s negotiation position. Mr. Biden is hoping to secure an end to the Gaza war during his last months in office, including the release of 120 living and dead Israeli and American hostages who remain in Hamas’s hands since its October 7 terrorist attacks. Many Israelis, as well as American critics, accuse Mr. Netanyahu of slow-walking negotiations and lengthening the war for political reasons. That criticism was intensified Wednesday when an Israeli delegation that was scheduled to travel to Doha Thursday to renew the American-led diplomacy announced it would now leave only next week. Yet, the premier’s explanation is plausible: He wants to coordinate final details with Mr. Biden before negotiations resume in Qatar. The Israeli team’s travel plans were originally made when the meeting between Messrs. Biden and Netanyahu had been scheduled for Monday. The White House delayed that sitdown for Thursday, when Mr. Netanyahu is also scheduled to separately meet with Ms. Harris. Mr. Netanyahu prefers to consult with the president before instructing his team on red lines for hostage negotiations, and hence the delay. In his speech, Mr. Natanyahu highlighted former hostages and families who traveled along with him, as well as the work of the IDF. He praised the heroism of soldiers who recently rescued four hostages, including Noa Argamani, who was in the Capitol rotunda. “I promised them this,” the premier said of the hostage families, “I will not rest until all the hostages are home. All of them.”Yet Mr. Netanyahu also stressed another portion of his war goals, which his detractors consider contradictory to the goal of releasing hostages. Riffing on a famous line from President Reagan, Mr. Netanyahu said, “America and Israel must stand together, because when we stand together, something very simple happens: We win, they lose.” “I came to assure you of one thing,” the premier added. “We will win.” Defining victory in Gaza, he said that Israel must dismantle Hamas’s military capabilities, end its rule over the Strip, and release all hostages. Yet, Mr. Netanyahu also stressed that the war is not merely in Gaza, as Israel is besieged by Hezbollah, the Houthis, and others. All of those efforts are directed by Iran.Quoting the founder of the Islamic Republic, Mr. Netanyahu reminded his listeners that Ayatollah Khomeini’s goal was to “export the Islamic revolution to the entire world.” By that, the premier stressed, Khomeini meant “Israel first and America next.” Asserting that Israel and America must be on the same side and tying the two countries in battle was a major theme of the speech. “This is not a clash of civilizations, it’s a clash between barbarism and civilization,” Mr. Netanyahu said. In that clash, he added, Israel is “not only protecting ourselves, we’re protecting you.”A portion of Mr. Netanyahu’s ire was reserved for protesters that he called “Iran’s useful idiots.” According to several reports on Wednesday, anti-Israel groups managed to release maggots and crickets in the Watergate hotel, where Mr. Netanyahu and his entourage are staying.At the same time, the premier omitted any reference to the dozens of Democrats who boycotted his speech, including Ms. Harris. Rather than preside with Speaker Johnson over the joint meeting of Congress for Mr. Netanyahu’s speech, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee addressed a Zeta Phi Beta sorority conference at Indianapolis, praising its members as the “most powerful advocates for justice in America.”In his speech, Mr. Netanyahu thanked Mr. Biden for visiting Israel “in our darkest hour” following the October 7 attacks. He reminded listeners that the president called himself a “proud Irish-American Zionist,” and was grateful that Mr. Biden organized a regional defense force when Iran attacked Israel directly on April 14.Mr. Netanyahu also thanked Mr. Trump, who has invited him to a meeting Friday at Mar-a-Lago, for moving the American embassy to Jerusalem, for recognizing Israel’s sovereignty on the Golan Heights, and, especially, for helping forge the Abraham Accords.The premier sought to fold into the future Mr. Biden’s goal of creating a regional anti-Iran front, including Saudi Arabia, and proposed calling it the “Abraham Alliance.” Yet, while praising Mr. Biden’s delivery of arms to Israel, he also hinted at frustration that some weapons have been slow in arriving. “Give us the tools faster, and we will finish the job faster,” he said, hinting at Mr. Biden’s hope of a rapid end to the Gaza war.Most of Mr. Netanyahu’s speech was directed at “my dear friends, Democrats and Republicans.” As the applause at Capitol Hill fades, though, he now must convince Americans and Israelis, who are more skeptical than ever of the premier, that he can bring some concrete results from his week-long American trip. That task is only beginning.

Netanyahu, in Rousing Speech to Congress, Proposes a New ‘Abraham Alliance’ Against Iran and for Peace With Arab States

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