Shame on you, Bibi

Bibi revelled in the dozens of standing ovations he received on Capitol Hill. He wouldn’t have received even one of them in Israel, because we know him better.

He cynically used the presence in the chamber of Israeli soldiers, the families of those being held hostage, and even the presence of Noa Argamani to advance his arguments, even though she herself had told him that his vow of a long war had broken her while she was in captivity.

If Bibi’s purpose was to emphasize that Israel and America were fighting the same enemy, and so the United States should “give us the tools and we will finish the job”, he should not have been impervious of the fact that the Democratic side of the House was less than enthusiastic about the content of his address.

At a time when the US is gearing up for its presidential election and it is not yet clear who will win, it was not clever to deliver a partisan message that will have angered many. His words of appreciation of President Biden’s support of Israel in these difficult times will not have made his words any more palatable to the Democrats in the House.

Not every protester against Israel’s policies should be deemed as ignorant and be the target of disdain. That was just stupid and will have alienated many.

However much the IDF may have tried to avoid civilian casualties in the war in Gaza, thousands of innocent Palestinians have been killed and injured, and it would not have hurt Bibi to express his sorrow at their deaths.

But what was missing most of all from his address was a message of hope for the families of those still being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. Protesters in the House, who wore T-shirts with the slogan “Seal the Deal”, were tied up with zip ties and removed from the chamber.

A TV report quotes an unnamed source familiar with the negotiations as saying, “All the weight is now on Netanyahu’s shoulders. This is his moment of truth. Because it is clear that the Americans, the [Egyptian and Qatari] mediators and all the senior members of Israel’s security establishment are saying: The conditions are ripe [for an agreement].”

Meantime, Bibi has not given the go-ahead for a deal, he made no reference to it in his address, and will now go off to meet Donald Trump in Florida at a time of his choosing, thereby enabling him and Sarah to celebrate their son, Yair’s, birthday with him while the hostages are still languishing and dying in Hamas’ underground tunnels in Gaza.

Few of us believe that that calls for a standing ovation.