Israel Matzav

The speech of his life?

Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed Congress on Tuesday. One Senator didn't show up. But everyone else stood and applauded.

Let's go to the videotape.



A few thoughts (I'm sitting with my Dad in a nursing home, so I'm not really concentrating on this as much as I should).

He put Iran front and center, and he's right that no one else is doing that.

"The more Iran believes that all options are on the table, the less the chance for confrontation." But not everyone seemed to stand and applaud that one.

I note that there was much more applause when he said that the Jews are not occupiers than when he said that the 'Palestinians' deserve their own state. Maybe it's time to stop pushing that 'Palestinian' line? At least let them fight their own battles?

And it's definitely time for Abu Bluff to stand before his people and say he will accept a Jewish state of Israel. But he won't and Netanyahu knows it.

Everyone stood up and cheered when he said that Israel will not return to the indefensible boundaries of 1967.

And note all the applause when he said that Jerusalem must remain the united capital of Israel.

So was it the speech of his life as some have said? I don't know. There's a part of me that says that Netanyahu knows that peace isn't going to happen and talk is cheap so why not say what everyone wants to hear and be done with it - which is largely what he did. But there's also a part of me that says that Netanyahu has a history of weakness (Why Why Wye?) and that the warm words he had for a 'Palestinian state' here could yet come back to haunt us.

Poor Tzipi Livni. How is she going to spin all that applause in Congress? Heh.

UPDATE 4:04 PM (BOSTON TIME)

For the record, ABC News is reporting that Netanyahu got 29 standing ovations during his speech - four more than Obama got during the 2011 State of the Union (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).

Heh.

Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, joint session of Congress

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:17 PM