(Telegraph-UK) Jake Wallis Simons - About 70 Democrats snubbed Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech to Congress on Wednesday, up from the 58 who boycotted his address to Congress in 2015. You'd have thought that the attack by Hamas would have resulted in a rise in support for the Middle East's sole democracy as it fights for its life against an enemy that is coming for us next. Yet in the minds of those taking the Hamas side of the argument, their hatred of "Zionism" is simply a philosophical opposition to the principle of Jewish self-determination. While beleaguered and controversial, Netanyahu's speech was a resounding triumph. When it comes to making the case for Israel, he is by far the best orator the Jewish state has ever produced. Here, at long last, was a demonstration to the West of what moral clarity looks like, delivered at the very heart of the free world. "This is not a clash of civilizations. It's a clash between barbarism and civilization," he said. To prevail, "America and Israel must stand together. We will win." This received perhaps the most rapturous applause. But the greatest significance of Bibi's tour de force was geopolitical. Israeli sources have suggested that Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar over-interpreted the campus protests in America, wrongly divining that public opinion was swinging behind Hamas when 80% of the population continued to support Israel. There can be no mistake after Bibi's speech. The scenes of ranks of congressmen united in a standing ovation were more powerful than any images of idiots in keffiyehs being pepper-sprayed outside. The U.S. and Israel stand shoulder-to-shoulder. Nor was this lost on the sophisticated leadership of Iran. Netanyahu's speech provided a clear vision of the threats facing the West. "Iran is virtually behind all the terrorism, all the turmoil, all the chaos, all the killing," Netanyahu said, and the U.S. was the only power standing in the way of Tehran's plans for global subjugation. The writer is the editor of the Jewish Chronicle-UK.
2024-07-25 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive