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Netanyahu's Address Before Congress 

I just returned from Capitol Hill, where I sat in the packed gallery of the House of Representatives during a joint session of Congress. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a stirring address, urging the world to reject the bad deal Obama is negotiating with Iran and to do whatever is necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from becoming a nuclear power. 

I believe this speech was historic. (It was reminiscent of President Bush's address to a joint session of Congress on September 20, 2001, after the 9/11 attacks.) Of course, what is not yet known is whether the speech is historic because it awakens the political elites of the U.S. and the Western world in time to stop the growing strength of radical Islam embodied in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Or will it be historic because, as powerful as it was, it was not sufficient to awaken us from our slumber? 

Here are some things that jumped out at me as I sat in the gallery looking down on the House floor. 

President Obama and the American left did not want this speech to be given. The conventional explanation for why Obama feared a Netanyahu speech was that it would warn us in time to prevent him from signing a terrible deal.

But I believe there was a bigger reason Obama didn't want this speech to happen. He did not want the American people to be reminded of what it sounds like when a head of state actually defends the cause of his own country. 

Netanyahu made no excuses for Israel's enemies, as Obama makes for ours. He cited no sins of Israel that could justify the threats made against it, the way our president harps on our sins. He spoke with a passion for his nation I have seldom heard from Obama except when he defends Islam. I think the president feared that Netanyahu's impassioned defense of his nation would awaken the American people, reminding us that we have heard no such defense of America for six years. 

Can't We Agree -- No Holocaust? 

Several rows of left-wing politicians, just below where I sat, watched the speech with arms folded, refusing to acknowledge the easiest of applause lines. For example, when the prime minister introduced Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, a passionate voice for the defense of Western Civilization, the room erupted with affection and appreciation. But at least a dozen House leftists remained seated and unfazed. 

It gets even worse. Netanyahu reminded the chamber that after the Holocaust the cry of the world was "Never Again." These leftist members of Congress could not bring themselves to applaud Netanyahu's reminder that the world must never allow another mass murder of Jews. Shame! 

Nancy Pelosi later said (she did applaud during these episodes) that she felt like crying during the speech because she was "saddened by the insult to the intelligence of the United States." If she was near tears, I suspect it was because she did not have one answer to any of the powerful points the prime minister was making. 

By the way, members of the left's anti-Netanyahu caucus weren't the only ones behaving badly. Senator Rand Paul looked rather annoyed and applauded half-heartedly at times. 

Key Points 

There are many outstanding parts of the speech. But I think the most important words came when Netanyahu said the following: 
 

"I can guarantee you this, the days when the Jewish people remained passive in the face of genocidal enemies, those days are over. We are no longer scattered among the nations, powerless to defend ourselves. 

"We restored our sovereignty in our ancient home. And the soldiers who defend our home have boundless courage. For the first time in 100 generations, we, the Jewish people, can defend ourselves. This is why as a prime minister of Israel, I can promise you one more thing: Even if Israel has to stand alone, Israel will stand."

This was not only a warning to Iran. In his own way, I believe Netanyahu was telling the current government of the United States that, while we are allies, Israel will not allow Washington to put Jerusalem in mortal jeopardy in pursuit of a policy that turns the Middle East into a "nuclear tinderbox." 

There are those in the White House and the foreign policy establishment who think that Iran may be changing its stripes just because it is helping us fight ISIS. Prime Minister Netanyahu forcefully pushed back on that misguided belief, saying:
 

"Don't be fooled. . . . Iran and ISIS are competing for the crown of militant Islam. One calls itself the Islamic Republic. The other calls itself the Islamic State. 

"Both want to impose a militant Islamic empire first on the region and then on the entire world. They just disagree among themselves who will be the ruler of that empire. . . . So when it comes to Iran and ISIS, the enemy of your enemy is your enemy. . . . 

"The greatest danger facing our world is the marriage of militant Islam with nuclear weapons. To defeat ISIS and let Iran get nuclear weapons would be to win the battle, but lose the war. We can't let that happen."

Netanyahu also demolished Obama's straw man argument that the only choice we have is war or a terrible deal that legitimizes Iran's nuclear program. He said: 
 

"That's just not true.  The alternative to this bad deal is a much better deal. A better deal that doesn't leave Iran with a vast nuclear infrastructure and such a short break-out time. A better deal that keeps the restrictions on Iran's nuclear program in place until Iran's aggression ends.  A better deal that won't give Iran an easy path to the bomb. 

"A better deal that Israel and its neighbors may not like, but with which we could live, literally. And no country has a greater stake than Israel in a good deal that peacefully removes this threat."

Prime Minister Netanyahu's address was a desperately needed dose of reality. Sadly, in the course of history, such prophetic voices have cried out before, only to be ignored. I thought it was most fitting that Speaker John Boehner presented Prime Minister Netanyahu with a bust of Winston Churchill today. Both men are the only foreign leaders who have addressed Congress three times.