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Netanyahu to Republican Jews: My controversial 2015 speech in Congress led to Abraham Accords
LAS VEGAS (JTA) — Benjamin Netanyahu’s acceptance of a Republican invitation to speak to Congress in 2015 to decry the Obama administration’s Iran policy notoriously helped bring about a rupture between the once and future Israeli prime minister and Democrats.
Now Netanyahu says the decision helped cement secret ties with Arab countries that led five years later to the Abraham Accords, the 2020 agreements brokered by the Trump administration that normalized ties between Israel and four Arab countries
“We got phone calls in real time from Gulf States, who were saying we cannot believe what your prime minister is doing, and he’s facing, admittedly, a great leader, the most powerful man in the world, the American president, but if he’s willing to do that, we’d like to cement the ties a lot further, and that led to the secret meetings. between myself in 2015 and Gulf leaders,” Netanyahu said Saturday. “That led to the laying the foundations for the Abraham Accords.”
Netanyahu was speaking about the benefits of one speech seemed designed to inflame partisan tensions in the United States during another talk to a partisan U.S. audience, addressing the annual Republican Jewish Coalition conference. His speech, delivered via video from Israel, made him the first Israeli prime minister, elected or otherwise, to address a partisan Jewish group in the United States.
Netanyahu said he could not describe the contacts from the Gulf States further. Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and special advisor, wrote in his book that Netanyahu came close to derailing the deals multiple times.
Netanyahu relayed his story to the RJC conference after the group’s chairman, Norm Coleman, asked him why he agreed to accept the invitation to speak in Congress knowing that the decision was not coordinated with the White House.
The Republican speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2015, John Boehner, who invited Netanyahu, broke protocol by keeping the invitation secret until the last minute from the White House and from Democrats in Congress. Netanyahu and his ambassador to Washington, Ron Dermer, agreed to keep the secret until Boehner issued the formal invitation.
Keeping Boehner’s secret led to a perception among Democrats that Netanyahu was playing partisan politics and was a major factor in Democratic disaffection with Netanyahu, from which he has never fully recovered. The Israeli government that ended Netanyahu’s 12-year stint in office last year, led by Naftali Bennet and Yair Lapid, had as a central platform repairing ties with Democrats. Netanyahu was reelected in Nov. 1 elections and will soon form a government.
Netanyahu told the RJC it was a difficult decision. “I can assure you that wasn’t a simple decision to go to the joint session of Congress and challenge the the policy of a sitting president, whom I respected but I disagree with,” he said. He said the Iran nuclear deal President Barack Obama was negotiating endangered Israel. The deal cleared Congress despite Netanyahu’s speech.
“I made that decision because I believe that … this agreement endangered the very existence of the State of Israel,” he said.
Netanyahu said he was relieved when Obama’s successor, Trump, pulled the United States out of the deal in 2018. “I was tremendously fortunate to have finally an American administration under President Trump who agreed with this policy,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu said in the talk that he was close to President Joe Biden, saying that they had “an easy relationship, a friendship” dating back to 1982 when Netanyahu was deputy chief of mission at the Israeli embassy in Washington and Biden was a senator from Delaware. He also praised Obama for setting U.S. defense assistance at $3.8 billion a year.
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The post Netanyahu to Republican Jews: My controversial 2015 speech in Congress led to Abraham Accords appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Indonesia Denies Prabowo Visit to Israel, Raising Questions Over Middle East Diplomacy
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto arrives in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, to attend the Gaza peace summit with world leaders. Photo: Screenshot
Indonesia has publicly denied that President Prabowo Subianto will visit Israel this week, contradicting media reports that he would become the first Indonesian head of state to do so and raising questions about Jakarta’s approach to Middle East diplomacy.
On Monday, Foreign Minister Sugiono said there was “no such plan” for Subianto to visit Israel, adding that he will return to Jakarta after attending the Gaza peace summit in Egypt, where leaders signed a US-brokered agreement aimed at ending the two-year conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
Sugiono’s announcement followed media reports suggesting that preparations were underway for a historic visit to Israel, with Subianto potentially arriving on Tuesday or Wednesday
As the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation with no diplomatic ties to Israel, Indonesia would make history if its president were to visit the Jewish state, potentially opening the door to broader regional normalization efforts.
Subianto traveled to Egypt on Monday to join world leaders at the Sharm El Sheikh Peace Summit to discuss the future of Gaza and post-war reconstruction efforts.
“Indonesia is fully committed to promoting peace in the Middle East region,” the Indonesian leader said in a statement.
Hari ini, saya berkunjung ke Republik Arab Mesir untuk menghadiri Konferensi Tingkat Tinggi (KTT) Perdamaian Sharm El-Sheikh. Dalam forum ini, saya akan menyaksikan penandatanganan perjanjian perdamaian dan penghentian perang di Gaza.
Indonesia berkomitmen penuh untuk mendorong… pic.twitter.com/5cfLMV9wBA
— Prabowo Subianto (@prabowo) October 13, 2025
Even though Subianto has advocated for Israel’s right to exist and live in security at the United Nations General Assembly last month, he has also called for the establishment of a Palestinian state — a move that, Israeli officials have warned, would reward terrorism.
Indonesia has also repeatedly condemned Israel on the international stage, falsely accusing the Jewish state of committing genocide during its defensive campaign against Hamas in Gaza.
Last week, the Indonesian government imposed a ban on Israeli athletes from entering the country for an international gymnastics competition, citing protest against the war in Gaza.
Yusril Ihza Mahendra – Indonesia’s minister for law, human rights, and immigration – announced that Israeli athletes will be denied visas to enter Indonesia for the competition.
“The government will not grant visas to Israeli gymnasts who intend to attend the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Jakarta,” Mahendra said on Thursday.
The decision was made following directives from Subianto, who condemned Israel for its military actions in the Gaza Strip during his speech at the UN General Assembly.
In 2023, Indonesia was stripped of hosting rights for the Under-20 World Cup because of protests in the country regarding Israel’s participation in the international soccer competition.
That same year, the ANOC World Beach Games was canceled after Indonesia abruptly pulled out as hosts in protest of Israel’s involvement.
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Kamala Harris on whether Israel committed genocide: ‘We should all step back and ask this question’
Former Vice President Kamala Harris held back from labeling Israel’s actions in Gaza a “genocide” on Sunday but said it was an appropriate question.
“A lot of folks in your party have called what’s happening in Gaza a genocide. Do you agree with that?” correspondent Eugene Daniels asked Harris during an interview on MSNBC’s “The Weekend.”
“Listen, it is a term of law that a court will decide,” Harris responded. “But I will tell you that when you look at the number of children that have been killed, the number of innocent civilians that have been killed, the refusal to give aid and support, we should all step back and ask this question and be honest about it, yeah.”
Several lawmakers, including Vermont’s Jewish Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent, and far-right Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, have described Israel’s conduct in Gaza over the past two years in Gaza as a genocide, but the allegation has not gotten mainstream support in Congress.
Throughout Harris’ book tour for her new memoir, “107 Days,” the former vice president has drawn pro-Palestinian protests who have accused her of being a “war criminal” and of supporting “genocide” in Gaza during her term. She has at times rebuffed the protesters and also given airtime to their concerns.
“I was the first person at the highest level of our United States government or administration to talk about the fact that the people in Gaza were starving,” Harris told protesters at a book event last month, according to the Washington Post.
Later in the interview, Daniels asked Harris whether she agreed that President Donald Trump should be “commended” for his role in brokering the ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel that saw the release of the 20 living hostages on Monday.
“I don’t think we should hold any credit where it’s due,” said Harris. “I really do hope it becomes real and that the hostages are out, that Gaza is no longer being treated with such brutality of force, that aid goes in. I commend the people who have been a part of this process. I commend the Qataris, the Egyptians, and the president.”
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Eurovision Song Contest Organizer Calls Off November Vote on Israel Participation
A logo of the Eurovision Song Contest is seen in front of the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, May 1, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
Eurovision Song Contest organizers will no longer meet online in November to vote on Israel‘s participation in the competition, following Middle East “developments,” the European Broadcasting Union said on Monday in an apparent reference to the Gaza ceasefire.
Austria had appealed to countries not to boycott next year’s contest – due to be held in Vienna – over Israel‘s participation and concerns about the two-year-old Gaza conflict.
Eurovision, which stresses its political neutrality, has faced controversy this year linked to the war, and several countries had pledged to withdraw from the event if Israel took part.
Austrian national broadcaster, ORF, which will host the 2026 contest, told Reuters it welcomed the EBU’s decision.
On Monday the Hamas Palestinian terrorist group freed the last living Israeli hostages from Gaza and Israel sent home busloads of Palestinian detainees, under a ceasefire deal aimed at bringing an end to the two-year-old war.
“The Board agreed to put the issue on the agenda of its ordinary Winter General Assembly, which will be taking place in December,” instead of the extraordinary meeting which had been slated to take place online in November, an EBU statement said.
It said that following “recent developments in the Middle East” the Executive Board agreed on Monday that there should be an in-person discussion among Members “on the issue of participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.”
The EBU did not clarify, when asked by Reuters, if a vote on Israeli broadcaster KAN’s participation would still go ahead, and said further details about the session will be shared with EBU Members in the coming weeks.
KAN did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
In September a letter from the EBU’s President said the executive board recognized that it could not reach a consensual position on KAN’s participation in the competition.
“Given that the Union has never faced a divisive situation like this before, the Board agreed that this question merited a broader democratic basis for a decision,” Delphine Ernotte Cunci said in the letter.