Netanyahu: ‘America and Israel must stand together’
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, begins his speech by thanking congressional leaders and lawmakers for the “profound” honor of addressing Congress.
Netanyahu says that we stand at a “crossroads of history” while the world is “in upheaval”.
He says that in the Middle East, Iran’s “axis of terror” “confronts” US, Israel and its Arab friends. “This is not a clash of civilization,” he says.
It is a clash between those who glorify death and those who sanctify life. For the forces of civilization to triumph, America and Israel must stand together.
Key events
Benjamin Netanyahu says that he has come before Congress today to assure them that “we will win”.
The Israeli leader says that 7 October, the day of the Hamas attacks on southern Israel, will “forever live in infamy” as a day when “heaven turned into hell”.
Netanyahu notes that a former hostage held by Hamas, Noa Argamani, is in the gallery today sitting beside his wife, Sara Netanyahu. He says:
Noa – we are so thrilled to have you with us today. Thank you.
Netanyahu: ‘America and Israel must stand together’
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, begins his speech by thanking congressional leaders and lawmakers for the “profound” honor of addressing Congress.
Netanyahu says that we stand at a “crossroads of history” while the world is “in upheaval”.
He says that in the Middle East, Iran’s “axis of terror” “confronts” US, Israel and its Arab friends. “This is not a clash of civilization,” he says.
It is a clash between those who glorify death and those who sanctify life. For the forces of civilization to triumph, America and Israel must stand together.
Benjamin Netanyahu is being greeted with applause as he enters the chamber ahead of his speech to Congress.
Meanwhile, there are reports that police have deployed pepper spray at protesters near the Capitol building.
Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Benjamin Netanyahu, has entered the gallery ahead of the Israeli prime minister’s speech.
Protests are also taking place in Israel ahead of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech in Washington.
About 200 protesters gathered outside the US embassy office in Tel Aviv, some holding signs calling Netanyahu an “enemy of Israel”, AP reported.
Netanyahu to address Congress
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, will shortly address Congress today as he seeks to shore up US support for his country’s war in Gaza.
Netanyahu’s address, scheduled to begin at 2pm ET, comes as the death toll nears 40,000 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in Gaza.
Fox News has proposed a new presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris for 17 September.
In letters to the Harris and Trump campaigns, Jay Wallace, the president and executive editor of Fox News Media, proposed a debate moderated by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum to be held in Pennsylvania, Variety reports.
Wallace is quoted as saying in the letter:
We are open to discussion on the exact date, format and location – with or without an audience.
From Semafor’s Shelby Talcott:
ABC is currently slated to host a second presidential debate on 10 September.
Harris to meet Netanyahu on Thursday
Kamala Harris will not attend Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress today, but she will meet the Israeli leader on Thursday, the White House said.
Netanyahu will meet with Joe Biden in the Oval Office on Thursday before meeting separately with Harris, according to a White House statement.
Netanyahu is also expected to meet with Donald Trump on Friday.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has arrived on Capitol Hill and greeted the Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson.
“We are certainly happy to welcome our friend,” Johnson said, AP reported.
Johnson added:
Today and every day America must stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel.
Netanyahu told Johnson he has “shown great leadership”.
Elon Musk has said he will attend Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the US Capitol as a guest of the Israeli prime minister, Fox News’ Kelly Phares reports.
Thousands of protesters near Capitol ahead of Netanyahu’s address to Congress
Thousands of protesters have gathered near the Capitol building ahead of a speech by Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to members of Congress.
On a stage decked with banners including one that declared Netanyahu as a “wanted war criminal”, pro-Palestinian demonstrators including the Oscar-winning actor Susan Sarandon condemned the Israeli leader’s invitation to speak before Congress.
“Shut it down,” a large group of protesters chanted as marched toward the Capitol after blocking a nearby intersection. “Bibi, Bibi, we’re not done!”
Demonstrators placed nearly 30 human-size cardboard coffins wrapped in Palestinian flags in memory of those killed in the war in Gaza.
‘We are not playing around’: Harris pledges to sign abortion access into law
Kamala Harris says the country is witnessing a “full-on assault on hard-fought, hard-won freedoms and rights”, including the freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body.
Harris says we must stand together in defense of freedom and to make sure that every American can cast their ballot and have it counted.
She says that every person in the nation should be free from gun violence, and pledges to pass universal background checks, red flag laws and an assault weapons ban.
Harris says every person should be free from “bigotry, discrimination and hate”, and that she will “continue to fight for equality and justice for all”.
We who believe in reproductive freedom will fight for a woman’s right to choose. Because one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree. The government could not be telling her what to do.
Harris says that Donald Trump handpicked three members of the US supreme court because he intended for them to overturn Roe v Wade.
She says:
When I am president of the United States and when Congress passes a law to restore those freedoms, I will sign it into law. We are not playing around.
Kamala Harris says voters face a choice between two different visions for the country: one focused on the future, the other focused on the past.
Harris says she is fighting for the nation’s future – a future in which everyone has affordable healthcare, no child has to grow up in poverty, the economy works for working people, and the country has affordable childcare and elder care and paid family leave.
“We here believe in a future where all women and all mothers are safe,” Harris says, noting that as vice-president, she took on the issue of maternal mortality.
As we work to build a brighter future and to move our nation forward, we must also recognize that there are those who are trying to take us backward. You may have seen their agenda. Part of it is called Project 2025.
She warns that Project 2025 is a plan “to return America to a dark past”, adding:
Let’s be clear, this represents an outright attack on our children, our families and our future. These extremists want to take us back, but we are not going back. We are not going back.
Kamala Harris opens her keynote speech to the Zeta Phi Beta sorority by paying tribute to Joe Biden and the “extraordinary” work he has accomplished as president.
Biden is a leader with “bold vision” who “cares about the future” and who has “extraordinary determination and profound compassion” for the American people, she says.
“We are all deeply, deeply grateful for his service to our nation,” Harris says.
Harris gives keynote speech at sorority event
Joanna Walters
The US vice-president, Kamala Harris, has just kicked off a keynote address to the biennial gathering of the Zeta Phi Beta sorority, now taking place in Indianapolis.
Zeta Phi Beta is one of the sororities originating at Howard University, one of the most prestigious institutions in US higher education and one of the historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU).
Howard is Harris’s alma mater, although her sorority was Alpha Kappa Alpha.
All eyes are on Harris since she more or less clinched the position of the Democratic party’s presumptive nominee for president after Joe Biden dropped out of his re-election campaign over the weekend.
She is criticizing what she called Republican nominee Donald Trump’s plan “to return America to a dark past” of ultra-conservatism.
Joanna Walters
The FBI director, Christopher Wray, testified to the House committee that the Trump shooter googled the assassination of JFK.
He said, in addition to what we just posted: “One of the things that I can share here today that has not been shared is that we’ve just in the last couple of days found that from a review … an analysis of a laptop that the investigation ties to the [Trump] shooter reveals that on July 6, he did a Google search for, quote ‘how far away was Oswald from Kennedy?’
“So that’s a search that, obviously, is significant in terms of his state of mind. That is the same day, it appears, that he registered for the Butler rally.”
The Trump campaign rally was held in Butler county, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Donald Trump was shot by the would-be assassin, a 20-year-old local, who came within an inch of killing the former president.
Lee Harvey Oswald shot dead US president John F Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, in November 1963.
FBI Director Wray shares new analysis of a laptop that the investigation ties to the shooter, revealing that on July 6th, the shooter did a Google search for how far away Oswald was from Kennedy. pic.twitter.com/7PQSjYMqvd
— House Judiciary Dems (@HouseJudiciary) July 24, 2024