Netanayahu’s bragging speech was an affront to a vulnerable Israel

My daughter and son-in-law were murdered by Hamas terrorists early on October 7, in the safe room of their home in Kibbutz Holit. My grandson Rotem was wounded, but shielded by his mother’s body, he survived the grenade and gunshot attack. Our granddaughters, Shir and Shakked, each hid in terror in their safe rooms in the young singles quarters in another part of the little kibbutz. It was nine hours from when Rotem was shot until his rescue, still under gunfire. The girls endured their terror for nearly 14 hours before they could be evacuated.

So I listened carefully to the speech Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered to the US Congress last week. There was a lot I needed to hear and have been waiting to hear from him in the weeks and months following October 7. And I still am waiting. And I know I am not alone. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks before a joint meeting of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 3, 2015 (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Netanyahu’s speech was a big brag, to the US and to the rest of the world, to anyone who was listening. He repeated and reiterated assertions and reassurances. His message was clear: I’m in command; Everything is under control; Claims to the contrary are misplaced; Concerns are baseless. 

The courageous Ethiopian and Bedouin soldiers Netanyahu showcased in his remarks served as props. They were exhibited as though their steadfast determination were a function of Netanyahu’s own bravery rather than of a cruel necessity. He did not refer to the almost daily death toll of our soldiers, the litany of names preceded by the words “hutar le pirsum” – released for publication – and followed by the no less awful “yehi zichro Baruch” – may his memory be for a blessing. He did not describe the funerals, bereaved families and friends. He ignored the many hundreds of wounded, amputees, soldiers suffering from PTSD, their pain, the long process toward recovery, their families, thousands of lives interrupted and irrevocably changed. 

He pointed to Noa, one freed hostage, as though she were a living monument. We all rejoiced that she was rescued in time to see her mother who was dying of cancer. But Netanyahu avoided addressing those who are not free, barely hanging on to life in Gaza, the others known to be murdered whose corpses are held hostage, and their families, waiting, demanding, pleading to prioritize an agreement for their release.

Released hostage Noa Argamani, in white, and Sara Netanyahu receive applause before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to a joint meeting of Congress at the US Capitol on July 24, 2024, in Washington, DC. (Saul Loeb / AFP)

Yes, security concerns were properly front and center in Netanyahu’s speech. But self-serving boasts that Israel is secure and strong, the most moral, most responsible, most capable, ring hollow in the face of reality. 

We don’t need promises that we will be victorious. We need to know that our blood, sweat, and tears are not in vain. 

What would I have wanted to hear from him? 

He and our government must address us and the world honestly. We and many thousands of fellow citizens, north and south, including our grandchildren, are struggling with harrowing uncertainties. Where will we live next month, next year? When can we rebuild? When can we go home? When will we go to school? Where will we shelter in a drone or rocket attack? When can we till the soil, sow the fields, reap our crops, tend our orchards, and harvest fruits in their season? When will our schools, hotels, resorts, wineries, factories and businesses be able to reopen? 

We need to hear it said, and we need the world to know and understand that contrary to Netanyahu’s assertions, we are not invincible. Saturday’s deadly Iranian-made Hezbollah rocket, fired from Lebanon, murdered 12 Druze children playing soccer in Majdal Shams. Lest we forget, this was a most bitter reminder: The war against us from the north, like that of Hamas in the south, has been unremitting, with no end in sight. 

The dangers and consequences are all too real. What will happen if Israel responds to the terrible Hezbollah rocket attack? What will happen if Israel fails to respond? 

If our prime minister were focused on the country’s best interests, he would acknowledge that an objective inquiry into government decisions, failures, and responsibility leading up to October 7 and through the present is essential to planning a secure future. Without a pragmatic and realistic assessment and a coherent and detailed strategy to address the burgeoning medical, social, and economic needs of all citizens it will not be possible to restore confidence in the government’s capacity to lead. Our government must be able to agree on a plan to bring all our hostages, living and dead, home. We need to know what we can do and what we can expect in the days and years after. In other words, security depends on having confidence that there is a considered plan for going forward.

We the people pay dearly for this war to preserve our freedom. Since October 7, university students, professionals, service providers, agricultural workers, men and women, have been and are still called up and away from work, studies, and families, on prolonged reserve duty. Our economy is suffering, and we are suffering. We are also determined; we will endure. But we need our prime minister and our government to voice the hard facts of our endurance and resilience squarely to the world. And we need to know there is a pragmatic plan and a vision based on serious attention to the facts. Bombastic reassurances that ignore the facts are worse than useless. They are dangerously misleading, to us, to our enemies and, importantly, to citizens and political leadership in the United States and other allied nations whose informed support is crucial. We need a different speech NOW.