Netanyahu makes controversial address

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, center, speaks during a joint meeting of Congress at the US Capitol in Washington, DC

Netanyahu earned his "biggest cheers" for calling protesters "Tehran's useful idiots"

(Image credit: Tierney L. Cross / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

published 25 July 2024

What happened

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a rare address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday amid ongoing protests over Israel's war in Gaza.

Netanyahu lauded the U.S.-Israeli relationship while lambasting the large demonstrations across Washington, D.C. over his presence. "For all we know, Iran is funding the anti-Israel protests that are going on right now, outside this building," Netanyahu said. He earned his "biggest cheers" for calling protesters "Tehran's useful idiots," The New York Times said.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who is Palestinian American, attended Netanyahu's speech, holding a sign reading "war criminal" and "guilty of genocide." Many other high-profile Democrats, including Vice President Kamala Harris, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), were not in attendance, with "around half" of each of the Democratic caucuses "absent," said Andrew Solender at Axios.

Heading into his speech, Netanyahu had to contend with a "new balancing act, appealing to the new, potentially more progressive face of the Democratic Party while not antagonizing Trump," The Wall Street Journal said.

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Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.