What would a speech to Congress by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be without a heckler from Code Pink? Well, even though the security at Capitol Hill was lax enough to allow some woman from shouting ″End Israeli war crimes!″, Prime Minister Netanyahu still delivered an awesome speech before a joint meeting with both the House and Senate yesterday. The 45-minute speech touched on all key issues facing the Middle East, including the resolve by Israel to negotiate a long-term peace with the Palestinian Authority over the West Bank. As Bibi stated during his visit to the White House last week, Israel considers return to the pre-1967 borders as indefensible.
The rousing speech was interrupted more than 20 times by applause from members of the House and Senate, as well as by most visitors in the gallery. Netanyahu praised the United States, as well as Obama, for getting Osama bin Laden. He went on to warn of a nuclear Iran and how such would be a catastrophe for the world at large. On the matter of the pro-democracy, Arab-Spring movement, Prime Minister Netanyahu pointed out how the one million Arabs living within Israel already enjoy the fruits for democracy, and have done so for decades.
The special relationship between the U.S. and Israel has come under great strain the past two years as the Obama administration appears to be siding more with groups like Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. Criticism over the Gaza ′peace ship′ incident, which resulted in the death of nine pro-Palestinian activists and many wounded, including seven of the 13 Israeli commandos who boarded the ship as it attempted to run a security blockade. A new flotilla of 15 ships is planning to run the blockade this coming June.
Pressure has been mounting among many European nations to force a resolution to the Palestinian statehood issue. A vote is expected in the United Nations in September that could call for not only the creating of a Palestinian state, but also the once again divide the city of Jerusalem. A recent poll in Jerusalem resulted in about 80% of Arabs preferring to remain part of Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heard from a heckler from Code Pink during his speech to Congress yesterday. Code Pink is involved in the Gaza flotilla planned for June where pro-Palestinian activists will attempt to run the security blockade. The Netanyahu speech was well received by members of Congress as he laid out his desire for peace in the Middle East. The Obama White House seems inclined to support Hamas, a terrorist group whose charter calls for the destruction of Israel. Netanyahu made it clear that the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank, must not ally themselves with Hamas, or any other group that does not accept Israel′s right to exist.
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May 25th, 2011 at 5:52 am
Acknowledging each others’ right to exist is such a basic first step…. well done for Bibi for finally doing so himself. Please now can the Palestinians get past this basic hurdle so everyone can at least get back in the room.
One note…. because I HATE misleading language…. he did not say that a return to 1967 borders was indefensible, he said that the 1967 borders themselves are indefensible. Semantics, to be sure, but your way makes it sound like he was chastising the President, while what he said was actually a statement about the viability of securing boundaries. But of course you already knew that.
May 25th, 2011 at 5:56 am
I should have added that the heckling was impossibly rude – no excuse. That kind of crap makes your POV look cheap and indefensible.
May 25th, 2011 at 9:37 am
Yeah, but the Cloned pinko idiots lost on that one as Bibi took advantage and noted that their behavior would get them beaten and/or locked up in Iran or a Hamas ruled state.
(thats the long story)
Now “THAT” was a speech. Bibi rocks.
Barry could take some pointers