Netanyahu addresses US Congress as thousands gather outside in protest

Defiant Netanyahu assails Iran and student protesters in speech to US Congress

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed "total victory" in Gaza and accused pro-Palestinian protesters of choosing to "stand with evil", as he delivered a defiant speech to the US Congress on Wednesday that dozens of legislators boycotted.

Mr Netanyahu also called for the expansion of the Abraham Accords to counter Iran's regional influence, in an hour-long address aimed at shoring up US support for Israel as the war in Gaza drags on.

The speech highlighted growing divisions in Congress over America's support to its ally, with Republicans giving the far-right Israeli leader a rapturous reception while Democrats were far more muted.

Senior Democrats, including former House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris, stayed away.

Mr Netanyahu said the US and Israel must build on the Abraham Accords to counter Iran's growing influence in the Middle East.

The Abraham Accords "saw peace forged between Israel and for Arab countries", Mr Netanyahu said. "I have a name for this new alliance, I think we should call it the Abraham Alliance."

On Gaza, Mr Netanyahu said Israel does not seek to resettle the strip after the war is over.

"But for the foreseeable future, we must retain overriding security control there to prevent the resurgence of terror, to ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel," he said.

"Gaza should have a civilian administration run by Palestinians who do not seek to destroy Israel. That's not too much to ask."

In what was his fourth address to Congress, Mr Netanyahu said Israel's victory over Hamas "is in sight" and Israel would "do whatever it must do to restore security" along the border with Israel.

Netanyahu blasts pro-Palestine protesters for standing with 'evil'

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"Those who attack Israel will pay a very heavy price," he said, referring to Israel's bombing of Hodeidah port in Yemen in response to a Houthi drone attack on Tel Aviv.

After a three-minute standing ovation on entering the House of Representatives, Mr Netanyahu said Israel must control Gaza after the war and claimed his country had been providing Palestinians with ample food aid, blaming food shortages in the territory on Hamas.

The Israeli leader also played down civilian casualties in Gaza, where the Health Ministry says more than 39,100 people have been killed, and praised members of the Israeli military, several of whom were in Congress, as "heroes".

After the address, Senate foreign relations committee chairman Ben Cardin, who presided over the speech in lieu of Ms Harris, emphasised the importance of Mr Netanyahu's remarks on the Abraham Accords.

"I think most of us would prefer to see multinational forces, not Israeli forces in there ... but that may be a positive step towards normalisation in the region, and a pathway to two states living side by side in peace, " Mr Cardin told The National.

Other Democrats, however, did not respond as positively.

Congressman Gregory Meeks, the highest ranking Democrat on the House foreign relations committee, said he was "deeply frustrated" that Mr Netanyahu "offered little to explain what he will do to end the war and suffering".

"The Prime Minister did not outline a realistic plan for post-war Gaza, which I fear means that he intends to bend to the extreme right-wing voices in his coalition," Mr Meeks said in a statement.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told The National that the speech was "epic", noting, "I think we're on to something" with the day-after vision for Gaza that was outlined by the Prime Minister.

Guests in the chamber appeared to be overwhelmingly pro-Israel, meeting Mr Netanyahu with thunderous applause.

But his divisive position on the world stage did not go unchecked. Many of the guests wore bright yellow to show support for passing a ceasefire and hostage release deal now.

Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, a progressive Palestinian-American representative from Michigan, wore a keffiyeh and periodically held up a double-sided protest sign.

Members of the audience booed her and yelled for her to be thrown out.

Police arrested six guests who had worn yellow "Seal the Deal Now" T-shirts, referring to the current ceasefire proposal, Capitol police confirmed.

The parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who has been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, withheld applause for Mr Netanyahu throughout the speech.

Outside the House chamber where he delivered his address, thousands of protesters thronged the streets around the US Capitol, calling for the US to end weapons shipments to Israel, and for authorities to arrest him.

Thousands of anti-Netanyahu protesters converge at US Capitol

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Mr Netanyahu addressed the massive protests, angrily saying that the demonstrators "stand with evil".

He said Iran was "behind all the terrorism" in the region and that pro-Palestinian protesters who rallied at college campuses across the US this year were "Iran's useful idiots".

"These protesters chant 'From the river to the sea', but many don't have a clue what river and what sea they are talking about," he said.

"They not only get an F in geography, they get an F in history."

Divisions in Congress over Mr Netanyahu's handling of the war, and President Joe Biden's almost unfettered support for it, stood in contrast to previous addresses the Israeli leader has made that received broad bipartisan backing.

Most of those sitting out were Democrats, but Republican Representative Thomas Massie also joined the boycott.

Mr Massie called the address “political theatre on behalf of the State Department”, with Mr Netanyahu only seeking to “bolster” his domestic standing.

“I don't feel like being a prop so I won't be attending,” he wrote on X.

Even some who attended voiced their displeasure with Mr Netanyahu.

Republican Representative Jerry Nadler called him the "worst leader in Jewish history since the Maccabean king who invited the Romans into Jerusalem over 2,100 years ago".

Many of the members of Congress attending the address invited guests affected by the October 7 Hamas attack and the war in Gaza.

Senators Joni Ernst, a Republican, and Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, announced early on Wednesday that they would be joined by Ruby and Hagit Chen, the parents of killed Israeli-American Itay Chen, as “a reminder that every second truly does count for the hostages and their families”.

Ms Ernst told The National on Wednesday that she "can only imagine the agony that those families are going through right now" but that she would "encourage" rather than "pressure" Mr Netanyahu to bring the hostages home.

Hostage families have been among those to criticise Mr Netanyahu for failing to strike a ceasefire and hostage release deal that US officials have promised is close to being achieved.

At a House foreign affairs committee conference on Tuesday, Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, said that "any true friend of Israel today must pressure our Prime Minister to finish the deal now".

Outside the US Capitol, the city was braced for wide-scale pro-ceasefire demonstrations, with Washington police setting up a tall, sturdy metal barrier to create a large perimeter around congressional buildings and hundreds of officers standing by.

A demonstrator raises a fist outside the US Capitol in Washington before a joint meeting of Congress with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Bloomberg