Latest news with #BibiNetanyahu
CNN
30-07-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Democratic lawmaker's town hall repeatedly interrupted by audience members shouting about Gaza
The Middle East Congressional newsFacebookTweetLink Follow A town hall hosted by Democratic Rep. Bill Foster of Illinois on Tuesday was repeatedly interrupted by audience members shouting about the ongoing war in Gaza. The town hall comes as House members have returned to their districts for a weekslong district work period. The war in Gaza and US support for Israel has been a long-simmering political flashpoint, opening up divides within the Democratic Party. Many of the interruptions touched on the current starvation crisis in the enclave. A UN-backed food security agency has warned that 'the worst case scenario of famine' is unfolding in Gaza, its starkest alert yet as starvation spreads and Israel faces growing international pressure to allow more food into the territory. Not long into the start of the event, one attendee disrupted remarks from the congressman and began shouting out criticism of funding to Israel, claiming that those funds could have gone to Americans. A moderator interjected and told the attendee that they would have to leave. The audience clapped after the shouting stopped and the moderator directed the congressman to continue speaking. 'Look, it's a hard time for everyone,' Rep. Foster said afterward, 'when I wake up some mornings I just say, what the heck is going on, it comes out – that sort of tenseness comes out in different ways in different people and I have a lot of understanding for people that have a hard time dealing with it.' Shortly after, another audience member yelled out, identifying themselves as a Palestinian American. 'Our people are dying in a genocide … they have been starving to death. There is no food, there's no aid. There is no nothing. I'm your constituent, you have done nothing. You have done nothing to represent us.' After continued shouting, the moderator asked, 'Congressman, can you please answer the question that people are asking: What is your position on the war in Gaza?' 'I'm signed on to every ceasefire letter,' he began to say, before another interruption from a shouting audience member began. It is unclear whether those shouting were removed from the venue, but in many instances the shouting eventually trailed off and then became more distant. 'I have voted for defensive weapons for Israel. I think that, for a number of reasons that's the right thing to do,' said Foster. One audience member yelled out, 'Why is that the right thing to do?' The moderator interjected, saying, 'Please let him answer the question, sir, and do not interrupt again.' 'Bibi Netanyahu, the leader of Israel, has done things to Israel that should never be forgiven,' the congressman said after he resumed speaking. 'The things that I admired most about Israel has been systematically destroyed by Bibi Netanyahu, you know the rule of law, undercutting it,' the congressman said, before being interrupted again by more shouting from the audience.
CNN
30-07-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Democratic lawmaker's town hall repeatedly interrupted by audience members shouting about Gaza
The Middle East Congressional newsFacebookTweetLink Follow A town hall hosted by Democratic Rep. Bill Foster of Illinois on Tuesday was repeatedly interrupted by audience members shouting about the ongoing war in Gaza. The town hall comes as House members have returned to their districts for a weekslong district work period. The war in Gaza and US support for Israel has been a long-simmering political flashpoint, opening up divides within the Democratic Party. Many of the interruptions touched on the current starvation crisis in the enclave. A UN-backed food security agency has warned that 'the worst case scenario of famine' is unfolding in Gaza, its starkest alert yet as starvation spreads and Israel faces growing international pressure to allow more food into the territory. Not long into the start of the event, one attendee disrupted remarks from the congressman and began shouting out criticism of funding to Israel, claiming that those funds could have gone to Americans. A moderator interjected and told the attendee that they would have to leave. The audience clapped after the shouting stopped and the moderator directed the congressman to continue speaking. 'Look, it's a hard time for everyone,' Rep. Foster said afterward, 'when I wake up some mornings I just say, what the heck is going on, it comes out – that sort of tenseness comes out in different ways in different people and I have a lot of understanding for people that have a hard time dealing with it.' Shortly after, another audience member yelled out, identifying themselves as a Palestinian American. 'Our people are dying in a genocide … they have been starving to death. There is no food, there's no aid. There is no nothing. I'm your constituent, you have done nothing. You have done nothing to represent us.' After continued shouting, the moderator asked, 'Congressman, can you please answer the question that people are asking: What is your position on the war in Gaza?' 'I'm signed on to every ceasefire letter,' he began to say, before another interruption from a shouting audience member began. It is unclear whether those shouting were removed from the venue, but in many instances the shouting eventually trailed off and then became more distant. 'I have voted for defensive weapons for Israel. I think that, for a number of reasons that's the right thing to do,' said Foster. One audience member yelled out, 'Why is that the right thing to do?' The moderator interjected, saying, 'Please let him answer the question, sir, and do not interrupt again.' 'Bibi Netanyahu, the leader of Israel, has done things to Israel that should never be forgiven,' the congressman said after he resumed speaking. 'The things that I admired most about Israel has been systematically destroyed by Bibi Netanyahu, you know the rule of law, undercutting it,' the congressman said, before being interrupted again by more shouting from the audience.
Telegraph
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Trump and Netanyahu are heading for an Oval Office showdown
Bibi Netanyahu's Oval Office meeting with Donald Trump on Monday could be a game-changer. They will undoubtedly focus on Iran, Gaza, and Syria's new regime among other subjects. But how close are the two leaders' positions, and can their differences be reconciled? Both will declare the meeting 'successful,' but the reality may be quite different. On Iran, Trump crossed a Rubicon by ordering direct US military action against nuclear-weapons-related targets in Iran. He may think the strikes were simply a 'one and done' affair, but, if so, he is badly mistaken. Trump put his personal prestige on the line, not to mention America's. Despite his contention that the B-2 bunker-buster raids 'completely and totally obliterated' the targeted nuclear-program sites, much remains to be done. No one knows that better than Netanyahu, who has focused on the Iranian nuclear threat for over three decades. Although he persuaded (or manoeuvred) Trump into using military force, Trump swerved immediately after receiving favourable reports on the strikes to impose a cease-fire on Israel and Iran. Netanyahu had little choice but to stand down, having achieved two major objectives: getting Trump into the fight and imposing significant, albeit not fatal, damage on Iran's nuclear project. Iran also had little choice, having been pounded by Israel and the US, but to launch merely pro forma retaliation, shake its rhetorical fist in defiance, and hope to escape any additional destruction. Nonetheless, Netanyahu sees that the time is ripe for further action against Iran, including actions to encourage the domestic opposition to move against the ayatollahs. Iran's air defences are now essentially flat, but the moment will not last forever. Top Iranian commanders and nuclear scientists have been eliminated, but their ranks will reform, and their respective work will resume. The ayatollahs have clearly signalled their continuing resolve by effectively expelling all International Atomic Energy Agency personnel from the country. The last thing Netanyahu wants is for Trump to throw Tehran an economic or political lifeline. Israel seeks regime change in Iran, and Netanyahu needs at least Trump's acquiescence for Israel to continue deconstructing the remains of Iran's nuclear enterprise. Further US participation would be icing on the cake. By contrast, Trump desperately wants a Nobel Peace Prize. After all, he reasons, Barack Obama received one (which he didn't deserve), so why not Trump? Trump's Nobel obsession now seems concentrated on Gaza, where the ongoing conflict has intensified since the Israel-Iran ceasefire took effect. He has pressured both Israel and Hamas to reach agreement to effect the return some still-unsettled number of Israeli hostages and remains, in exchange releasing possibly 1,000 Hamas prisoners in Israeli custody, plus a 60-day ceasefire. The sticking point remains Hamas's insistence on a complete end to the war, or, reportedly, a commitment that talks to end the war commence immediately after the hostage/prisoner exchanges. This sort of framework has been used before, but its durability remains just as doubtful as other post-October 7, 2023 efforts. Trump wants to announce a cease-fire on or before the Monday meeting, but how long it lasts is anyone's guess. Hamas undoubtedly wants relief from Israeli military strikes, and domestic political pressure to secure the release of more hostages has left Netanyahu little manoeuvring room. But, apart from humanitarian objectives regarding the hostages, Israel gains no strategic upside from yet another cease fire. Israel has repeatedly suspended combat operations and withdrawn from already-secured positions in Gaza, and then been forced to re-take them, at considerable human and material costs to the Israeli Defense Forces. Lengthening the war also imposes additional strains on an already stressed Israeli economy. The collapse of Syria's Assad regime, replaced by former Al-Nusra Front terrorists (now known as Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, or 'HTS'), was undoubtedly a serious setback for Iran. Acceding to Saudi Arabia's requests, Trump lifted US economic sanctions previously imposed against Assad's government, but substantial questions remain whether HTS has actually renounced terrorism. Its leader, Syria's de facto head of government, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is also an unknown, having shed his combat fatigues for a suit, trimmed his beard, and dropped his nom de guerre for, apparently, his real name. In the meantime, Israel continues military operations inside Syria, in addition to holding onto an extended buffer zone occupied after Assad's fall. Perhaps nothing concrete regarding Syria will emerge from the Netanyahu-Trump meeting, but the two leaders need a better sense of each other's concerns and objectives. Since the First World War, the Middle East has seen more diplomatic efforts crash and burn than any other geographic hot spot. Iran and Gaza today are unlikely to prove more successful. Monday's most important outcome in the West Wing will be decisions on the possible further use of US and Israeli military force to achieve key objectives on both fronts.
CBS News
03-07-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Trump, first lady to meet with freed hostage Edan Alexander in Oval Office
Washington — President Trump and first lady Melania Trump will meet with freed Hamas hostage Edan Alexander and his family in the Oval Office on Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. Alexander, who was held hostage by the militant group Hamas in Gaza for 19 months, was released last month, and has since returned home to New Jersey. Now 21, the dual U.S.-Israeli citizen grew up in New Jersey and graduated from high school before moving to Israel. There, while serving in the Israeli military, he was abducted during the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023. "The president and first lady have met with many released hostages from Gaza, and they greatly look forward to meeting Edan Alexander and his family in the Oval Office tomorrow," Leavitt said. Mr. Trump and Alexander spoke directly after he was freed last month. In video of the call released by the White House, the president told Alexander, "You're an American, and we love you. We're going to take good care of you. And your parents are incredible. I saw your mother. She was pushing me around a little bit — putting a lot of pressure on me." Alexander's homecoming to Tenafly, New Jersey, was met with celebration, as hundreds stood in the rain and waited for hours as his motorcade passed. The White House has not yet said when the meeting will take place on Thursday. Mr. Trump is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu at the White House next week, as the U.S. president says Israel has agreed to the terms of a two-month ceasefire in Gaza. contributed to this report.
CBS News
02-07-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Trumps to meet with freed hostage Edan Alexander in Oval Office
Washington — President Trump and first lady Melania Trump will meet with freed Hamas hostage Edan Alexander and his family in the Oval Office on Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. Alexander, who was held hostage by the militant group Hamas in Gaza for 19 months, was released last month, and has since returned home to New Jersey. Now 21, the dual U.S.-Israeli citizen grew up in New Jersey and graduated from high school before moving to Israel. There, while serving in the Israeli military, he was abducted during the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023. "The president and first lady have met with many released hostages from Gaza, and they greatly look forward to meeting Edan Alexander and his family in the Oval Office tomorrow," Leavitt said. Mr. Trump and Alexander spoke directly after he was freed last month. In video of the call released by the White House, the president told Alexander, "You're an American, and we love you. We're going to take good care of you. And your parents are incredible. I saw your mother. She was pushing me around a little bit — putting a lot of pressure on me." Alexander's homecoming to Tenafly, New Jersey, was met with celebration, as hundreds stood in the rain and waited for hours as his motorcade passed. The White House has not yet said when the meeting will take place on Thursday. Mr. Trump is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu at the White House next week, as the U.S. president says Israel has agreed to the terms of a two-month ceasefire in Gaza. contributed to this report.
