Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sketched a vague outline of a plan for a "deradicalized" postwar Gaza Strip in a speech to the U.S. Congress on Wednesday and touted a potential future alliance between his country and America's Arab allies.
While dozens of Democrats boycotted his remarks and thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated nearby, he dismissed criticism of an Israeli campaign that has devastated the Palestinian enclave and killed more than 39,000 of its residents, according to Gaza health officials.
Anti-Israel protesters stand with Hamas and "should be ashamed of themselves," Netanyahu said, charging without evidence that they were backed by Israel's foe Iran. "For all we know, Iran is funding the anti-Israel protests that are going on right now outside this building," he said.