In a historic period, while waging a war on several fronts, and simultaneously holding complex negotiations with the terrorist organization Hamas for the return of the captives, yesterday (Wednesday) Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu gave a dramatic speech to the American Congress that characterizes his personality; you can agree or oppose it, but you cannot ignore it.
The speech, which received applause, even thunderous applause and a standing ovation from the members of the House of Representatives, most of whom are Republicans, placed a defensive wall in the face of opponents of Israel’s actions during the war, focused on Israel’s struggle against Hamas, Iran and its affiliates in the Middle East. The speech also promised victory and introduced Noa Argamani and heroes of October 7. In addition, the speech included thanks to Presidents Biden and Trump, jabs at protesters against Israel, and encouragement to increase military aid shipments. Regarding the vision for the day after, it was said that: “There is a need for a civilian government that does not want to destroy Israel.”
Even the greatest critics of the Prime Minister will have to admit that the speech was constructed and delivered in a fluid, receptive and successful manner. In the segments in which Netanyahu spoke about Noa Argamani, the abductees, the heroism of the IDF fighters, and in which he thanked President Biden – the atmosphere in the House of Representatives was electrifying, and the standing ovations were exceptionally long. Using brilliant rhetorical devices, the Prime Minister repeatedly struck opponents of the State of Israel. At the height of the speech, Netanyahu denounced the pro-Palestinian protesters, and compared the LGBT organizations that support Hamas to “Poultry for KFC”, the popular meat restaurant chain.
However, in Israel, leading media organizations such as Ynet chose to focus on the negative, and convey in a series of sour articles an attitude that appears precisely and forced against the successful speech.
From a glance at the popular site, one could see headlines counting the number of times Netanyahu mentioned certain words such as “0 ‘Deal’, 1 ‘North’ and 27 ‘Iran’: the words that Netanyahu emphasized in the speech, and those that he did not. The writers of the article, who failed to make an objective criticism, went to the depths of the carefully planned speech and presented the numerical data of the words – in a critical manner.
Another headline on Yedioth Ahronoth‘s digital website chose to emphasize the lack of Democrats in the plenary, and cited some of the members of the House of Representatives most critical of Israel who issued anti-Semitic statements: Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Talib. The headline bore the explosive name: “The Democratic boycott of Netanyahu: “A dark day, a bad political speech.” Trump attacked: “Kamala is running away from Israel””
Ynet reporter Nadav Eyal also made sure to cool down the enthusiasm for the polished speech with a commentary article that bore the title: “It was an excellent speech – and flawed”, which, as can be concluded, was the opening blow to an entire article that notes all of Netanyahu’s achievements in his speech – but makes sure to put an asterisk a small one that invalidates the entire speech: Netanyahu’s lack of responsibility.
Another article on the site emphasized the lack of time that Netanyahu devoted, out of his own considerations, to the tens of thousands of evacuees from the northern settlements. The headline, which also made clever use of numbers, was: “52 minutes in Congress, 37 seconds on the North: “Even in the speech, Netanyahu puts us on the sidelines”, and the summary detailed the claims of the northern city mayors against Netanyahu. Of course, there is no doubt that the pain of the evacuees should shock every citizen of the State of Israel, and of course he is the prime minister. However, with all due respect to the weighty issue, shouldn’t it have been mentioned in the body of the article, as a constructive and incisive criticism – and not as a headline that paints the entire speech as inflated and out of proportion?
Smotrich: “Why shouldn’t the citizens of Israel get up this morning happier?”
The one who made sure to paint the picture of the situation in a more balanced and positive way is Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich: “Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday did an amazing service for the State of Israel. He raised our national honor, brought our simple truth in clear and eloquent language to almost every home in the world and expressed the central place that the Jewish state occupies in the world,” Smotrich opened.
The minister continued: “An eloquent and well-polished speech, in content and style. A speech that sharpened the simple truth against the gross lie, the light against the darkness and the good against the evil. A speech that expressed the heart murmurs of the absolute majority of the people in Israel and of Israel’s supporters around the world. The information campaign The best and most efficient world that can exist during the war of existence that we are in the midst of.”
The Minister of Finance emphasized: “And as in a pre-written script, the bitter pickle group in the Israeli media is once again demonstrating the strength of its disconnection from Israeli existence and is doing everything to spoil the celebration. Hanhum Barnaim and Nadav Ilam are opening a competition to see who will look for more flaws and shortcomings and explain why it’s actually not the one. Why is forbidden for the citizens of Israel to wake up this morning happier, prouder, stronger, more believing and more determined, with faith in the righteousness of the road and a better ability to stand on the road to victory.”
Adopt the classic kindergarten teacher’s sentence: “If you don’t have anything good to say, it’s better not to say anything.”
It is no secret that not all Israelis, to put it mildly, sympathize with the current Prime Minister and agree with his path. But at times when Netanyahu delivers a speech designed to garner support among the House of Representatives of Israel’s greatest ally, and even receives a standing ovation – this is a great national achievement. In these times, the perspective should be broader than political affiliation and prejudice.
Of course, we don’t live in a perfect reality. The war brought with it a lot of pain, which should not be ignored. Everyone has a duty to listen to the cry of the families of the kidnapped, the evacuees, the bereaved families and the families of the wounded, and many more who were harmed on October 7 and during the last period. However, in reality so much good is happening. There are small and big victories every day, and if we want to move forward, as a society and as individuals – it is appropriate to emphasize the positive and not the negative.
In these times, the position required even of the prime minister’s biggest opponents is to stop the flow of hateful words – and maybe even to remain silent. Sometimes it’s worth adopting the immortal sentence that the kindergarten teacher told everyone in kindergarten – even to Ynet reporters: “If you don’t have anything good to say, it’s better not to say anything.”
