Netanyahu’s Congress speech both uplifting and depressing for many Israelis

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fiery speech to Congress may have been delivered in Washington, but his words appeared aimed at an audience back home.

Israelis heard their leader, a gifted orator with flawless English, deliver a forceful case for Israel’s actions in the war in Gaza on a global stage. He aimed to portray himself as a consummate statesman who is embraced by the country’s most important ally at a time when Israel has never been more isolated internationally.

The speech could help boost his political fortunes, but it left many Israelis disappointed.

He gave no sign of substantive progress on a cease-fire deal that could free the hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza. He took no responsibility for the security and policy failures under his watch that led to Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 assault, which triggered the war. And he gave little indication of how he plans to address the crises set off by the conflict, including the indefinite displacement of tens of thousands of Israelis in the country’s south and north and the damage the war has caused to Israel’s global image. Not to mention the bleak future of Gaza, where tens of thousands have been killed, hundreds of thousands displaced and vast areas decimated.

Here is a look at how Netanyahu’s speech is being received in Israel:

Nearly 10 months after their loved ones were seized by Hamas and other militants, the families of hostages are desperate for their relatives’ return. They have directed most of their anger at Netanyahu and that frustration was only exacerbated after his speech. Many expected the prime minister to use the global platform to declare progress in cease-fire talks or even announce that a deal was reached, only to be greatly disappointed.

“As we speak, we’re actively engaged in intensive efforts to secure their release,” Netanyahu told Congress in his only comments on the talks. “I’m confident that these efforts can succeed. Some of them are taking place right now.”

Not only was there no grand declaration, but Netanyahu spent about five minutes of his nearly hourlong address talking about the plight of the hostages.

“If he didn’t open with the words, ‘we have a deal,’ I don’t care what he has to say,” said Sharon Kalderon, the sister-in-law of hostage Ofer Kalderon. “This is the only thing that we want to hear.”

The hostage families and their struggle have become a potent force in Israel, where they enjoy broad support. Thousands have protested weekly to highlight their plight and to call on Netanyahu to resign.

The war began with a militant assault on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took about 250 hostages. The Health Ministry in Gaza — which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants — says more than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict.

Many Israelis support an end to the war if it would mean freedom for the remaining roughly 110 people who have not been released, a third of whom are said to be dead.

The lack of emphasis on cease-fire negotiations could have been a message to Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners that a deal is not his priority.

Those partners oppose a deal and say they will topple the government if one moves ahead, threatening Netanyahu’s rule. They want the war to continue until Hamas is defeated — a goal Netanyahu repeatedly states as well.

One of the first public reactions to the speech came from his far-right governing partner, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who posted on social media platform X moments after the address: “Israel (heart) Netanyahu.”

It succinctly captured how the ultranationalist flank of Netanyahu’s government viewed the speech.

Netanyahu’s critics, meanwhile, accuse him of dragging out the war for political reasons — to appease the far-right partners and ensure his coalition remains in place and he remains in office.

Netanyahu’s powerful defense of Israel on a very public stage garnered praise from even some of his political rivals.

At a time when Israelis feel like the world has moved on from the Oct. 7 attack, has lost interest in the hostages’ fate, and has cast Israel as the bad actor, Netanyahu’s speech — with its invocations of soldiers’ bravery and what he claimed was Israel’s righteousness in the war — injected a sense of patriotism and hope.

That could score Netanyahu badly needed political points, said Aviv Bushinsky, a former advisor to the Israeli leader.

“There is a consensus in Israel that there is no one who could have done it better,” he said. But he added the political boost could be temporary because the reality for Israelis is grim.

Netanyahu’s speech painted a rosy picture of a wartime Israel, one that ignored the deep sense of betrayal many feel in their political and military leaders since Oct. 7. It did not mention the anger and uncertainty of tens of thousands of displaced Israelis, with the government offering them no solution. Nor did it grapple with the anguish Israelis feel every time another hostage is determined to have died in captivity. Hours after Netanyahu spoke, the military announced that the bodies of five hostages already known to be dead had been retrieved from Gaza in a rescue mission.

Veteran Israeli broadcaster Ilana Dayan opened her radio program Thursday saying that through the speech, Congress was presented with a distorted reality.

“This is the Israel Congress members saw: Israel the just, the captivating, the enlightened. Israel of the absolute good which is winning total victory against absolute evil — an Israel so different from the one the people here live and breathe which is counting its dead and waits for its hostages.”