Fact-checking Netanyahu's address to Congress

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a defiant hourlong speech in a joint session of Congress aiming to garner support for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

Netanyahu denounced people who have protested against the conflict and vowed to achieve "total victory." Dozens of Democratic lawmakers boycotted the address. Critics — many of whom voiced their opposition this spring during a season of college campus protests — seek an end to the war and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza it created.

"This is not a clash of civilizations, it’s a class between barbarism and civilization," Netanyahu said in his July 24 speech. "For the forces of civilization to triumph, America and Israel must stand together, because when we stand together something very simple happens: we win, they lose. And, my friends, I came to assure you today of one thing: We will win." 

Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel killed nearly 1,200 people, according to the Israeli government, and resulted in hundreds more taken hostage. The nine-month war sparked from that attack is estimated to have killed more than 39,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

PolitiFact fact-checked Netanyahu’s statements about humanitarian aid into Gaza, Iran’s role in U.S. protests against the war, and more. 

The presidents of Harvard, Penn and MIT "couldn't bring themselves to condemn the calls for the genocide of Jews. Remember what they said? They said, ‘It depends on the context.’"

Netanyahu’s comments refer to a Dec. 5 congressional hearing in which Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., pressed the then-presidents of Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsylvania on whether they would discipline students who called for the genocide of Jews.

In back-and-forth exchanges, the three university presidents responded similarly — disciplinary action for statements about genocide would depend on the context. The presidents did not say they agreed with the genocide of Jews.

When Stefanik asked whether calling for the genocide of Jews constituted bullying or harassment, then-University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill said, "It is a context-dependent decision." Magill resigned four days later amid outrage over her response.

Responding to the same question, then-Harvard President Claudine Gay said, "The rules around bullying and harassment are quite specific and if the context in which that language is used amounts to bullying and harassment, then we take action against it." Gay resigned in January amid antisemitism accusations and separate plagiarism allegations.

Stefanik responded, "But you’ve heard chants for intifada." (Intifada is an Arabic word that means uprising. Some people see this word as a call for violence against Jewish people.)

Kornbluth said, "I’ve heard chants which can be antisemitic depending on the context when calling for the elimination of the Jewish people." Kornbluth was the only one of the three to retain her job.

The White House, elected officials and academics criticized the university presidents for their responses.

"We recently learned from the national security director, the U.S. director of national intelligence, that Iran is funding and promoting anti-Israel protests in America. They want to disrupt America."

On July 9, Avril Haines, the U.S. national intelligence director, said in a statement that Iranian government actors were taking advantage of protests in the U.S. over the war in Gaza, and were using a playbook officials have seen other people use over the years to inflame tensions.

Although Haines stopped short of saying that Iran was fully "funding" the protests, she said people connected to Iran have provided financial support. She didn’t elaborate on which protests or how much financial support.

"We have observed actors tied to Iran’s government posing as activists online, seeking to encourage protests, and even providing financial support to protesters," Haines said, adding that Iran’s activities shouldn’t smear genuine protesters or impede on free speech.

"I want to be clear that I know Americans who participate in protests are, in good faith, expressing their views on the conflict in Gaza — this intelligence does not indicate otherwise," she said. "Moreover, the freedom to express diverse views, when done peacefully, is essential to our democracy, but it is also important to warn of foreign actors who seek to exploit our debate for their own purposes."

She said targeted protesters may not know they’re interacting with or receiving support from a foreign government, and urged Americans to remain vigilant with who they engage with online.

This discussion harks back to the outside agitator commentary from the height of the university campus protests over Israel’s war in Gaza. Although nefarious actors may try to influence political speech at protest events, historians said that the "outside agitator" narrative has often been attached to large historical movements to delegitimize protesters and their demands.

"The idea behind the concept of the outside agitator is that dissent can never be coming from the people who are expressing that dissent," Angus Johnston, a historian of student activism and teacher at Hostos Community College in New York City, previously told PolitiFact. "There always has to be a shadowy figure behind them."

Protests are known to bring in a mix of people, some with different goals, but genuine protesters typically vastly outnumber any outside forces, experts said.

The International Criminal Court prosecutor has "shamefully accused Israel of deliberately starving the people of Gaza. This is utter complete nonsense." 

On July 9, a group of United Nations independent human rights experts said famine had spread across Gaza. "We declare that Israel's intentional and targeted starvation campaign against the Palestinian people is a form of genocidal violence and has resulted in famine across all of Gaza," the experts said in a statement. 

The United Nations has not yet declared a famine in Gaza. But a July 10 report by a group of international organizations that evaluate global food emergencies said that there’s a high risk of famine in the region, "as long as conflict continues, and humanitarian access is restricted." The report added, however, that "the available evidence ‘does not indicate’" that a famine is currently occurring.

In March, the group reported that famine was "imminent" in parts of Gaza, but its July report noted there were "some improvements" in access to humanitarian aid.

Trucks loaded with humanitarian aid from the United Arab Emirates and the U.S. Agency for International Development cross the Trident Pier before entering the beach in Gaza, May 17, 2024. (AP)

Despite these improvements, the report said recent data showed the percentage of households receiving humanitarian assistance dropped. This is partly because of Israel’s Rafah offensive, which prompted the closures of land crossings in the area.

Although Israel says it’s allowing hundreds of trucks to enter Gaza daily, the U.N. and aid groups say they are often unable to reach the aid, or distribute it.

"If there are Palestinians in Gaza who aren’t getting enough food, it's not because Israel is blocking it, it's because Hamas is stealing it."

When the war began, Israel initially stopped any humanitarian aid from entering Gaza.

A May U.S. State Department report found "numerous instances" in which Israel’s actions "delayed" or had a "negative effect" on aid delivery to Gaza. The report later added that, more recently, Israel had "substantially increased humanitarian access and aid into Gaza."

Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesperson, said in an Oct. 19 press briefing that the U.S. and Israel share "a legitimate concern" that Hamas will divert the aid and added that the U.S. is "going to be watching very carefully how it’s delivered."

In February, David Satterfield, the Biden administration’s special Middle East envoy for humanitarian issues said Israeli officials had not provided specific evidence of diversion or theft of U.N. assistance. 

Satterfield said there were reports that U.N. representatives had "been attacked first by desperate mobs, then by criminal elements" as they ferried aid to Gaza. He added that Israeli attacks against the police forces escorting aid trucks was "dangerous." 

Israeli strikes have also killed multiple foreign aid workers delivering humanitarian aid in Gaza.  

"The solution here is to again be able to move that scale distribution in a safe and secure manner and that’s going to require some form of security escorts to return," Satterfield said.

In a July interview with The Associated Press, a U.S. Agency for International Development administrator said Israel had agreed to create systems to improve aid workers’ security.

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