"A war criminal belongs in prison." Widespread criticism of Netanyahu's speech before Congress

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech before the US Congress on Wednesday received widespread Palestinian, American and Israeli reactions, while dozens of Democratic Party representatives boycotted the session, amid massive protests in Washington and Tel Aviv coinciding with his speech.

According to the American news website Axios, about half of the Democratic members of the House of Representatives and the Senate were absent from Netanyahu's session before Congress, noting that many representatives, especially progressive critics of Israel, confirmed that they would clearly boycott the session in protest against Netanyahu's continuation of the war in Gaza.

The website added that among the boycotters were former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former House Majority Leader Whip Jim Clyburn. The Hebrew channel Kan also revealed that about 128 members of the US Congress boycotted Netanyahu's speech.

US Senator Bernie Sanders described Netanyahu after his speech to Congress, saying that he is “not only a war criminal, but also a liar.” Democratic Representative Dalia Ramirez also said the same thing in a television interview, describing him as “a war criminal who will stop at nothing to achieve his personal agenda,” saying that it was “a hypocritical speech in his attack on the protesters” and that “his place is in prison, not Congress.”

Former Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi said, “Netanyahu’s speech was the worst presentation by a foreign dignitary ever to address Congress,” while Democratic Senator Chris Murphy stressed that “Netanyahu’s speech is a setback to relations with America and is intended to bolster his political standing,” noting that “to say that any American who objects to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is sympathetic to Hamas is crossing the line.” He added, “It is astonishing to downplay the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Netanyahu would have been better off spending his time finalizing a hostage deal and ending the war.”

In the same context, Democratic member of the US House of Representatives Jimmy Gomez said that Netanyahu's speech "is deficient, as are his actions since taking office, and I call on him to resign immediately." While Democratic member of the US House of Representatives Jerry Nadler indicated that Netanyahu wants the war to continue for as long as possible and is not seeking the release of the hostages.

The American Jewish lobby group J Street considered that "Netanyahu's speech is divisive because he tried to ignore the ceasefire, sought to inflame tensions in America by attacking protesters, and made excuses for his failures instead of laying out a plan for the future."

Reactions in Israel

While Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich praised Netanyahu's speech, saying, "He is proudly like them," most Israeli politicians attacked his speech. Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid described his speech as "shameful," and said that he spoke for an entire hour without mentioning a single sentence about the exchange deal.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak told CNN that "four out of every five Israelis hold Netanyahu responsible for October 7." He added that "it is a mistake to believe Netanyahu's speech to Congress, and Americans do not have the tools to understand that he is misleading them."

Simultaneously with Netanyahu's speech, protesters around the US Congress raised slogans rejecting his visit and speech before Congress. The protesters demanded an end to the Israeli war on Gaza and a halt to supplying Israel with weapons. Mass demonstrations also took place in Tel Aviv demanding an end to the war and the announcement of a prisoner exchange deal.

On the popular level, the mother of an Israeli prisoner confirmed to the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation that “the applause that Netanyahu received before the US Congress will not be received in Tel Aviv without the return of the prisoners.”

Palestinian mockery of Netanyahu's speech

Hamas political bureau member Izzat al-Rishq said in a post on Telegram that “the criminal Netanyahu’s speech is a party of lies and disdain for the world’s minds.” Meanwhile, Hamas leader Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters that the speech shows that Netanyahu does not want to reach a ceasefire agreement, and stressed that the speech is “full of lies and will not succeed in covering up the failure to confront the resistance or covering up the crimes of war of extermination.”

For his part, a spokesman for the Palestinian president commented on Netanyahu's speech to Reuters, saying that "the Palestinian people and their sole legitimate representative, the Palestine Liberation Organization, are the only ones who can decide who governs them." He added that "our permanent position is that the only solution to achieve security and stability is the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital."