The first US response to the double assassinations this week in Beirut and Tehran came from Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin on 31 July.

In the wake of Israel’s targeted killing of Hamas political bureau head Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and Hezbollah’s top military commander Fuad Shukr in Lebanon, Austin reiterated the US’s “unwavering support” for Israel and pledged to come to its defence if attacked.   

As Israel ramps up its military provocations, it is now more apparent than ever that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bellicose address in Congress last week was the opening salvo of a wider regional war – to the rapturous applause of US lawmakers.

Indeed, in the days before and after Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, the Israeli regime attacked and killed scores of civilians in Hodeidah port in Yemen, Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights and the southern Dahiya neighbourhood of Beirut in Lebanon, and crossed a new threshold by assassinating Haniyeh in Tehran.

This escalation has taken place as Palestinians mark 300 days of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, in which at least 50,000 people were killed or buried beneath the rubble and more than 100,000 injured.

Over the past week, many observers have speculated that Netanyahu’s congressional address and his subsequent meetings with President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Donald Trump and other US officials gave him the green light to continue Israel’s rampage unabated.

In Congress, Netanyahu stated his objectives for an all-out war in no uncertain terms

Regardless, however, of what was spoken behind closed doors, Netanyahu stated his objectives for an all-out war in no uncertain terms.

The indicted war criminal, who has failed to achieve his military objectives in Gaza, arrived in Washington to drum up war against Iran and prolong his genocidal campaign against the Palestinians.

So if Netanyahu took advantage of his visit to expand the war – the disastrous results of which the world had already seen this week – then why was he invited to Washington in the first place?

What lies did the aspiring regional hegemon tell Congress to sell his devious plans, and how did he get away with it?

Saving face

The congressional address on 24 July was Netanyahu’s first international trip since he waged his genocidal campaign in Gaza last October.

Even though the Israeli prime minister was indicted on several corruption charges by his own Zionist regime and is facing arrest for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC), US congressional leaders extended an invitation to him anyway.

Netanyahu spoke before a joint session of Congress for an unprecedented fourth time.

This was an “honour” not even afforded to the British imperialist statesman and one of the iconic leaders of World War Two, Winston Churchill, who addressed the US Congress three times during his tenure (in 1941, 1943 and 1952).

Remarkably, all of the invitations to the belligerent Israeli prime minister were extended by Republican House Speakers during the terms of Democratic presidents, namely Bill Clinton in 1996, Barack Obama in 2011 and 2015 and Joe Biden in 2024.

Each occasion was a sinister Republican attempt to showcase their pro-Israel fidelity for political gain against their Democratic rivals.

During his last address at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2023, Netanyahu boasted about Israel’s perceived invincibility and its pivotal role as the anchor for the region’s security, stability and economic prosperity.

In the UN speech, he had entirely erased Palestinians and their plight as he held up a map in which Israel was drawn up to include all of the territories of historic Palestine.

A line was drawn that extended from India through the Persian Gulf, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Jordan to the port of Haifa in Israel and from there to Europe. Dubbing it the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (Imec), Netanyahu bragged that Israel would play a central role in this new geopolitical structure. But the whole scheme may unravel in the aftermath of the Hamas October attacks.

Unable to achieve any of his military and political objectives after waging an all-out genocidal war in Gaza, Netanyahu is in trouble not only at home but also internationally because of his conduct in the war. The world is no longer able to look away. As the mass murder reaches unprecedented numbers, as some estimates say, the total number of victims could reach as many as a staggering 186,000 dead.

That’s almost eight percent of Gaza’s population, with over 70 percent of the victims being women and children.

By comparison, one of the worst civilian atrocities during the Second World War was carried out by the Allies against the German city of Dresden in 1945. It resulted in about 30,000 dead out of 1.2 million, or less than three percent of its population.

In the 55-minute speech, Netanyahu was applauded almost 80 times by some servile members of Congress, who seemed to be hanging on his every word (exceeding the previous record of 58 applauds in 2015).

While half of the Democratic members of both chambers of Congress boycotted the speech, including prominent congressional leaders (131 boycotting versus 128 attending), only one Republican congressman shunned the event, Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky (out of 268 Republican House members and senators).

Netanyahu’s performance was pathetic and full of flagrant lies and hubris on many levels. It was not lost that he was trying to resemble what US presidents usually do during their annual State of the Union addresses. He flaunted several Israeli soldiers and former hostages, sharing fabricated tales of valour amid one of the most humiliating and humbling days in the history of the Zionist regime.

He claimed to have freed or reclaimed 135 captives and dead bodies, disguising the fact that only five were freed through military operations. Many more, in fact, were killed either by Israel’s bombing of Gaza or by Israeli soldiers during failed rescue attempts.

Meanwhile, 110 of the captives were released last November through a negotiated deal, which had been offered by the Palestinian resistance in the early days of the conflict.

Needless to say, had Netanyahu been serious about a deal to free the captives, he would not have killed the chief Palestinian negotiator this week.

He did not acknowledge the fact that no other deal to free the remaining Israeli captives has been reached due to his continuous refusal to end the war or withdraw from Gaza as demanded not only by the Palestinians but also by UN Security Council resolution 2728 of last March, as well as the UN General Assembly resolution of last December.

Doing so could result in him being held accountable for the 7 October attacks, triggering new elections and his possible ouster in disgrace as prime minister.

Netanyahu has also vehemently rejected all rulings by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), issued in January, March and May, to stop the genocidal war, as well as the ICJ advisory opinion issued in July regarding the illegality of the Israeli occupation of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the demand to end it.

Third-rate con artist

Netanyahu tried to demonstrate strength and resolve by declaring that he would not stop the war unless achieving what he called “total victory.”

He defined that term as total Hamas surrendering in defeat, supplanting their rule in Gaza with collaborators or compliant Palestinians, and freeing all the Israeli captives without any prisoner exchange.

These demands did not take into account the realities on the ground, where his army has failed miserably to achieve a military victory after 10 months of wreaking havoc on Gaza’s civilian population and causing massive destruction to the strip.

Netanyahu used bait-and-switch tactics before riveted members of Congress who acted like extras in a poorly scripted play featuring a third-rate con artist

In fact, Netanyahu used bait-and-switch tactics before riveted members of Congress who acted like extras in a poorly scripted play featuring a third-rate con artist.

He started his speech by invoking the 9/11 tragedy, saying what happened on 7 October was the equivalent of 29 9/11s when adjusted to the US population. What went unsaid is that what has happened to Palestinians in Gaza since October is equivalent to 2,900 9/11s when adjusting to the population. In other words, what Netanyahu and his army have done in Gaza is equivalent to killing 7.5 million Americans, injuring 22 million Americans, and destroying all American civilian life and infrastructure.

Perhaps one of his most blatant lies was to assert that his invasion of Rafah last May, while killing “1,203” resistance fighters, “accidentally” caused a few civilian casualties.

Ordinary observers would have to suspend their mental faculties or live in an alternate universe to believe such nonsense.

As the images of thousands of women, children and civilian body parts are shown every day before the whole world, only puppets and stooges masquerading as members of Congress would enable an unhinged certified liar to make fools out of them as they applaud him in unison.

One of the most pathetic moments of this spectacle was when Netanyahu stopped them from applauding until he reached his punch line. They acquiesced immediately.

Debunked lies

The racism and ethnosupremacy that this Israeli sociopath displayed during his congressional appearance was incredible.

Netanyahu had the audacity to talk about the “sanctity of life” upheld by the Israelis and the “culture of death” by Muslims.

Such proclamations come from a genocidal maniac who is prosecuting a war that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said has caused suffering on an “unprecedented” level – the worst he’s seen in his seven-year tenure – which has claimed tens of thousands of lives in the tiny enclave, displaced 85 percent of its population and rendered Gaza uninhabitable.

For months, Netanyahu prevented all aid from entering the Gaza Strip, including food and medicine to over two million people, prompting famine, starvation and communicable diseases.

He claimed, against uncontroverted evidence, that Israel never prevented essential aid of food and medicine from entering the doomed Gaza Strip and that 40,000 aid trucks have entered Gaza since last October.

But what he failed to mention was that, according to the United Nations, the number of trucks that used to enter Gaza before he imposed his total blockade was 500 per day, which were less than the needed supplies for a land-locked strip blockaded by the Zionist regime since 2007.

This means that out of a minimum of 150,000 truckloads that should have been allowed since Israel waged its war on Gaza, less than 27 percent of the needs had been delivered.

Adding to this is the loss of the entire agricultural and industrial production and the cutting off of electricity and energy supplies, creating a situation in Gaza that is nothing short of catastrophic.

All of these facts were omitted in the fairytale Netanyahu presented. He also continued to peddle the lie that Hamas was stealing the humanitarian aid, a charge that UN officials have already rejected. And, of course, his own army and extremist settlers have been blocking supply trucks and attacking aid workers for months.

Political theatre

Netanyahu’s congressional address was an act of shameless theatre set up by the Israeli leader himself and his cronies in the US, who are backed by the Israel lobby, primarily the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac).

Its main goal was to send an image of a strong and defiant leader to a sceptical and shaken Israeli public.

If anything, the havoc and hell Netanyahu has been inflicting on Gaza over the past 10 months could not have happened without unprecedented US support

With no political and military achievements in Gaza to his name or any willingness to change course, Netanyahu instead has been trying to escalate the conflict and drag the US into a regional war.

However, the US has repeatedly claimed that it is trying to avoid this Middle East conflagration at all costs since it would disrupt its global responsibilities and derail its geopolitical strategies. It could also result in an overwhelming Democratic defeat in the November elections.

Netanyahu claimed that the US needs to give Israel the “tools needed to finish the job”, insinuating that the US administration has been withholding the arms that Israel seeks. It is, of course, a false charge designed to divert blame for his lack of victory, let alone the “total victory” he’s been advocating.

If anything, the havoc and hell he has been inflicting on Gaza over the past 10 months could not have happened without unprecedented American support.

Such aid by the US and its western allies for Israel’s war against defenceless Palestinians included massive armaments that exceeded in total the destructive value of five Hiroshima-size bombs – including “smart” bombs, artillery shells, missiles, fighter jets – in addition to intelligence services, massive economic aid, diplomatic protection, political cover and the support of a compliant mainstream media and elite political class.

Citing the US arming its allies during World War Two as an example, Netanyahu claimed that the faster the Zionist regime could receive arms, the faster it could finish the job.

What he didn’t say was that the Allies could not finish the job with US weapons alone. They needed the massive US army to fight alongside them, resulting in the eventual loss of more than 400,000 American soldiers.

Beating the war drums

Netanyahu spent about a third of his speech beating the drums of war against Iran.

Ismail Haniyeh killing: A moment of truth for the Middle East 

Read More »

Advertisement

He claimed that Iran was responsible for all of Israel’s troubles – not its occupation of Palestine, its denial of Palestinian rights or its construction of illegal settlements on stolen Palestinian lands. Israel’s policies of dehumanisation and dispossession of the Palestinians, the Judaisation of Muslim holy sanctuaries and daily incursions of Palestinian towns, villages and camps, assassinating hundreds and detaining thousands of Palestinians are also not to blame.

This record, detailed in the recent ICJ ruling a few weeks ago, was expediently dismissed in Netanyahu’s speech as he condemned the ICJ and ICC rulings to yet more cheers from his audience.

Such condemnations not only ignore facts that are overwhelmingly recognised globally but also significantly undermine the rules-based order the US has been allegedly trying to enforce for decades.

Netanyahu brazenly carried on with his lies by claiming that the Israeli army was the most moral army in history. In fact, his army has been perpetrating the worst war crimes record since World War Two, according to the top European diplomat Josep Borrell.

In fact, because of the conduct of this most immoral army in decades, the ICC prosecutor has called for his indictment and arrest along with his partner in crime, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

“Israel’s enemies are the US’s enemies,” Netanyahu asserted, making his objective very clear: to incite against Iran and implore American policymakers to support or even wage a US war against Iran. He also called for the creation of a regional coalition that he dubbed the “Abraham Alliance”. It would include America’s Arab allies that would join Israel’s dangerous war against Iran and its allies in the resistance axis.

If the US lost thousands of lives, trillions of dollars, and suffered a tarnished reputation and a geopolitical setback in Iraq, how much will it lose to an even more devastating war with Iran?

This agitation was reminiscent of the rhetoric used over two decades ago against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, now resurrected to drum a war against Iran.

Given Israel’s recent attacks on Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and Iran, it seems that Netanyahu’s plan has already been set in motion.

In contradiction to its own stated interest of not expanding the war into a wider conflict, the US continues to be dragged further into Israel’s war.

Following the assassinations and expected retaliation by Hezbollah and Iran, the US deployed 12 warships in the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf on Thursday. It also follows the US and its western and Arab allies bailing out Israel during Iran’s retaliatory strikes in April.

If the US lost thousands of lives, trillions of dollars and suffered a tarnished reputation and a geopolitical setback in Iraq, how much will it lose to an even more devastating war with Iran?

The degree of such Zionist hubris is breathtaking.

‘Useful idiots’

For many Americans, perhaps the most insulting claim in a stream of falsehoods was Netanyahu’s sensationalist and totally baseless assertion that the massive anti-genocide protests across US cities and college campuses were instigated and paid for by Iran.

Despite there being no evidence to support this outrageous charge, members of Congress applauded him, while making a mockery of the sacred First Amendment protections, constitutional rights and rich tradition of campus anti-war activism and dissent.

In 2007,  American academics John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt argued in their book, The Israel Lobby and American Foreign Policy, that the only plausible explanation for the US’s calamitous policy in the Middle East and the submission of many American politicians to Israeli policies and interests, which often contravene America’s strategic interests and stated principles, is the grip the Israel lobby, led by Aipac, has over US politicians.

Why blaming the Israel lobby for western Middle East policies is misguided

Read More »

Years earlier, in 1992, American author and former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan condemned “Israel and its Amen Corner” as he referred to American politicians under Aipac’s influence. He further described Congress as “Israeli-occupied territories”.

After more than 30 years, the circus displayed last Wednesday afternoon had all but confirmed those strong words. The physical military Israeli occupation may be in Palestine, but there is arguably one of a different nature on Capitol Hill as well.

While the US’s imperialist designs and other military interests contribute to this support, the blind enthusiastic reception of a war criminal and one of the most hawkish Israeli leaders by US politicians signals the impact of the lobby, which has also long advocated for war against Iran.

Within a week of Netanyahu’s address, some US politicians are openly calling for US involvement in Netanyahu’s hegemonic war.

During a phone call with the Israeli prime minister, Biden once again reaffirmed his support for Israel while pledging to continue to support and defend the Zionist regime. Meanwhile, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham introduced a war powers bill on Thursday that called for a direct US attack on Iran while further urging Israel to bomb Iranian oil refineries during a Fox News appearance.

While Netanyahu insulted countless Americans who are vehemently protesting his war of genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza – and his attempt at regional supremacy – as “useful idiots”, it turned out that the useful idiots were not outside the halls of Congress but enthusiastically celebrating their master in the People’s House.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.

It looks like the Utah Jazz have inked a fresh deal for their returning big man.

According to multiple reports, the Jazz have agreed to terms on a two-way contract with Micah Potter, locking him in for the 2024-25 season. Potter has spent the past two seasons in Utah on a two-way deal spending time in both the NBA and the G-League, and now looks to make it a third next year.

A two-way deal gives the Jazz flexibility to transition Potter from the G-League to their main roster for a portion of the season, also having an opportunity to sign him to a traditional contract if he shows out.

During Potter’s 23 games played with the Jazz, he’s averaged 3.3 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 0.4 points on 52.7/46.4/75.0 shooting splits. He’s a 6-foot-10 big with a strong ability on the offensive end, standing out as an efficient floor spacer during his limited reps.

This offseason, Potter has also spent time with the Team USA Men’s Select Team, a group that practiced alongside this year’s national Team USA squad during training camp before the 2024 Olympics.

If Potter finds his way back to the Salt Lake City Stars next season, expect him to have another year with a big impact. He was a top contributor during their 2023-24 campaign where he averaged 15.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks a game, and should be on track to replicate that as long as the Jazz opt not to call him up.

Follow Inside The Jazz on Facebook and Twitter/X, and subscribe to YouTube for breaking Jazz news videos and live streams!

Even while chastising federal government officials for delaying a decision on whether grizzlies should be delisted, Wyoming and Montana’s governors are hailing a relocation of bears as a sign that it’s time to delist.

Two grizzlies captured in a remote area of northwest Montana were released in Wyoming this week.

A subadult female grizzly was released Tuesday in the Blackrock drainage about 35 miles northwest of Dubois, according Wyoming and Montana wildlife managers. On Wednesday, Yellowstone National Park wildlife agents released a subadult male in a remote area south of Yellowstone Lake.

The relocations are part of cooperative program between Montana and Wyoming to boost genetic exchange between Montana’s Northern Continental Divide grizzlies and Wyoming’s Greater Yellowstone bears.

Genetic exchange between those populations is seen as a key component of full grizzly recovery in the Lower 48.

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon and Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte said in a joint statement Friday that moving the bears is important step toward getting grizzlies delisted.

“This week’s effort assures genetic connection can be achieved through active management to address the court’s requirement where a healthy number of grizzlies and an ever-expanding range have not been sufficiently convincing to the 9th Circuit,” Gordon said in the statement.

Govs. To Feds: Stop Dragging Your Feet

Meanwhile, Wyoming and Montana blasted the U.S. Department of the Interior and Fish and Wildlife Service over what they claim are needless delays in the feds reaching issuing a decision whether to delist grizzlies in the Lower 48.

The FWS recently petitioned a federal court to push the decision back until Jan. 31, 2025.

Wyoming and Montana say that’s unacceptable.

Montana last month sent a notice of intent to sue to U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and FWS Director Martha Williams.

Montana claims to have been waiting since 2022 for an answer from the feds regarding whether grizzlies could be delisted, according to the letter.

If FWS doesn’t render a decision by Sept. 11, Montana will file a lawsuit to force it to do so, the letter states.

Gordon said in a statement that Wyoming is willing to wait until Oct. 31.

“We will not accept a six-month delay to Wyoming’s petition, and one that costs the state $2 million annually to manage a species we have no authority over,” Gordon said. “Wyoming will accept nothing less than the service to expeditiously complete the delisting decision for the GYE bear no later than Oct. 31, 2024.”

Politics At Play?

The FWS might be trying to delay its decision out of an abundance of caution, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Interior Rob Wallace told Cowboy State Daily.

“If I read between the lines, everybody is trying to make sure they when they act, it (grizzly delisting) doesn’t just go back into the courts again,” said Wallace, who oversaw the FWS in his former administrative role.

There could be politics at play as well, retired federal ecologist Chuck Neal of Cody told Cowboy State Daily.

If the decision is delayed until Jan. 31, 2025, “that would take it past the election season and put it before a new presidential administration,” he said.

Is It Time To Delist?

Grizzlies once occupied much of the Western United States, but by the 1970s, their population had dwindled away almost entirely. They were placed under federal protection in 1975 so that they could recover.

Wallace said that’s been accomplished.

“From a recovery standpoint, the bears have met the recovery threshold that was set,” he said.

The recovery goal was about 700 grizzlies in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. There’s thought to be well over 1,000 bears in the GYE and at least that many more in the Northern Continental Divide ecosystem.

Most FWS biologists, as well as those with the state wildlife agencies, think that there are more than enough bears for delisting, Wallace said.

“You really want the Endangered Species Act to be decided by the biologists and not the courts,” he said.

If grizzlies are delisted, Wyoming Game and Fish has plans in place to open a hunting season for them here.

However, others argue that numbers alone aren’t enough and that the bears need more territory and greater genetic exchange between populations.

Neal said he favors that stance.

While moving two bears from Montana to Wyoming helps, it really amounts no nothing more than an “open air zoo” approach to bear management, he said.

Large-scale, natural genetic exchange needs to happen, he said.

He said he shares the sentiments of retired Missoula, Montana, biologist Chris Servheen that the states can’t be trusted to properly manage grizzlies.

Servheen was the FWS grizzly bear recovery coordinator for 35 years before retiring in 2016.

He previously told Cowboy State Daily that he initially favored delisting grizzlies, but then changed his mind when he saw how heavy-handed they’d been with wolves.

Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.