PM Netanyahu has delivered his speech to the Joint Session of Congress at the invitation of Speaker Boehner. Netanyahu's grand entrance to the floor of the house a la the President's for the SOU should not confuse us. Netanyahu wants to remain Prime Minister of Israel, but if he can manage U.S. foreign policy, he would consider that a plus.
Here is his address to the Congress, via CSPAN [1] (at about 15 minutes).
Commentary: William Galston at Brookings [2] on recent polling. Robert Hunter at Lobelog [3] on outcomes of successful negotiations. Bernard Avishai at the New Yorker [4] on what Netanyahu really wants--war. George Friedman [5] at Stratfo on the U.S. dilemma in shaping a ME balance of power with or without Israel (HT: Jim Pauwels). Here's a British take on the speech. [6] Reporters from the Guardian [7] have annotated the speech. And here's Jon Stewart!! [8](R-rated metaphors!)
No fan of NYTimes editorials, I think they got this one right: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel could not have hoped for a more rapturous welcome in Congress. With Republicans and most Democrats as his props, he entered the House of Representatives to thunderous applause on Tuesday, waving his hand like a conquering hero and being mobbed by fawning lawmakers as he made his way to the dais. Even Washington doesn’t often see this level of exploitative political theater;.....More substantive points here. [9]
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