Benjamin Netanyahu presents a definitive portrayal of morality.
You can’t ask for a more powerful, more accurate picture of the Middle East today than the one Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu painted in Wednesday’s stemwinder to Congress.
“We meet today at a crossroads of history,” he said, facing not a “clash of civilizations,” but a clash between “barbarism and civilization.”
“To triumph,” he said, “America and Israel must stand together.” When they do, “we win; they lose.”
It’s an important message, particularly in this presidential election season.
The Israeli leader recalled the horrors of Oct. 7, comparing them to Dec. 7 and 9/11.
He retold remarkable tales of heroism that day and in the war that followed — of the soldier who ran eight miles to save lives, for instance, and of another who lost a limb and some vision but will soon return to the fight.
On the side of evil, he said, are the anti-Israel protesters — Iran’s “useful idiots” — and the college administrators who couldn’t bring themselves to condemn antisemitism on their campuses.
Bibi obliterated the ignorant fools who hold “Gays for Gaza” signs: They might as well have read, “Chickens for KFC.”
He was profusely grateful to America — and President Biden — for supporting his nation.
But he made clear that America benefits, too, from the alliance: Israel provides Washington with vital intelligence, develops some of the most “sophisticated” weaponry to protect both countries and “we help keep American boots off the ground while protecting our shared interests.”
Right: Hamas still holds eight US hostages, including three who’ve died at the terrorists’ hands. Yet it’s Israel, not America, that’s fighting to rescue all those still in captivity.
And it’s Israel that’s paying the price in soldiers’ lives.
The shared interests go much further: “Iran is virtually behind all the terrorism, chaos and killing.”
America stands in Iran’s way as it seeks “to impose radical Islam on the world.” But first it must conquer the Middle East — and there, it is Israel that stands in the way.
“Our enemies are your enemies, our fight is your fight, and our victory will be your victory,” Bibi thundered as he called for an alliance “to counter the Iranian threat” much like the one that included Arab nations when Tehran launched hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel.
He’s spot on there, too: Iran needs stopping — and the broader the alliance, the better.
Together, Bibi vowed, America and Israel will “defend our common civilization.”
That partnership makes eminent sense, no matter who occupies the White House.
