In a speech to the US Congress in Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said he wanted to continue the war in Gaza until Israel achieved “total victory” over Hamas. He also briefly discussed his vision of Gaza after the war.

Netanyahu can count on several standing ovations from members of Congress:

Netanyahu said a new Gaza would be created the day after Hamas was defeated. He called for a “militarized and degraded Gaza Strip.” He compared it to Germany and Japan after World War II, saying a similar approach could lead to a “future of security, prosperity and peace” in Gaza.

Netanyahu began his speech by praising US President Biden for his support for Israel. The Republican presidential candidate also thanked Trump at the end of his speech.

In his speech, Netanyahu linked Israel’s struggle in the Middle East with American interests. He called it a “battle between barbarism and civilization.” Later in his speech, he said that Iran is responsible for all terrorism in the Middle East.

As the war in Gaza rages on, Netanyahu has called on the United States to quickly provide more military aid to Israel. “Accelerating U.S. military assistance would bring the war in Gaza significantly closer to an end and help prevent a wider war in the Middle East,” he said.

For months, international pressure has been mounting on Israel to reach a cease-fire deal with Hamas in Gaza. US President Biden, who did not attend Netanyahu’s speech, has continued to press Israel in recent months to reach such an agreement.

An Israeli delegation was due to travel to Egypt tomorrow for peace talks, but it was announced earlier today that this has been postponed until Netanyahu’s visit to the US. That’s why experts wondered before the speech whether Netanyahu would talk about peace talks. He didn’t.

Netanyahu was greeted with thunderous applause in Congress, and thousands of people turned out to demonstrate against his arrival. Among them were outspoken pro-Palestinian demonstrators and relatives of Israelis held hostage by Hamas. According to family members, Israeli actions in Gaza did not contribute to the hostages’ chances of survival.

During his speech, Netanyahu called those protesters “useful idiots.” “Who knows, maybe Iran is funding the protests outside now,” he said.

Congress also protested. This left at least fifty Democratic members of Congress vacant. Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib held up a sign reading “responsible for genocide” and “war criminal”.

One of the most prominent members of Congress to walk away was Nancy Pelosi, the influential former Speaker of the House of Representatives. He responded to X with a scathing critique of Netanyahu’s speech. He called the speech “the worst speech ever made by any foreign dignitary who had the privilege of addressing Congress.” He believes Netanyahu should have spent his time trying to get the hostages home safely.

In the coming days, Netanyahu plans to hold talks with President Biden, Republican presidential candidate Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Harris. It was his first foreign trip since the October 7 attack by Hamas.