Review: Netanyahu's Address, No Holocaust, Key Points
Nobel peace laureate Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor of Auschwitz & author of "Night," attended today's joint session of Congress in support of Prime Minister Netanyahu message. |
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.
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.
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 anti-Netanyahu caucus in the Democrat Party weren't the only ones behaving badly. Senator Rand Paul looked rather annoyed and applauded half-heartedly at times.
There were many outstanding parts of the speech. But I think the most important words came when Netanyahu said the following:
"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."
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:
"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."
"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."
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Gary Bauer is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families
Tags: Gary Bauer, Campaign for Working Families, Israel, Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Joint Session of Congress, Netanyahu's Address, No Holocaust, Key Points, Elie Wiesel To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
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