Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress Tuesday morning ended a long period of media confusion over diplomatic protocol and executive authority. After the long tussle over House Speaker John Boehner’s, R-Ohio, invitation to Netanyahu, reporters, editors and pundits welcomed the prime minister’s stern warnings and pop culture references, not least as an opportunity to rattle off jokes and quick quips.
“Iran and [the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria] are competing for the crown of militant Islam,” Netanyahu said during his address to both chambers of Congress. “One calls itself the Islamic Republic. The other calls itself the Islamic State. Both want to impose a militant Islamic empire first on the region and then on the entire world. They just disagree among themselves who will be the ruler of that empire. In this deadly game of thrones, there’s no place for America or for Israel, no peace for Christians, Jews or Muslims who don’t share the Islamist medieval creed, no rights for women, no freedom for anyone.”
“[H]ere come the jokes,” Vox’s Max Fisher said, referring to predictable attempts to riff on Netanyahu’s speech.
Netanyahu’s use of term “game of thrones,” and its clear reference to the HBO show of the same title, delighted journalists watching the prime minister’s speech.
“GAME OF THRONES BINGOOO” Politico’s Hadas Gold said in a tweet after she had said earlier: “where’s the [Netanyahu] bingo? I think we’re almost there: purim, nazis, iron dome.”
“Waiting for Walking Dead reference,” the New York Daily News’ Josh Greenman said.
BuzzFeed’s Hayes Brown added in reference to the popular television show: “Why has nobody photoshopped Bibi as the Mother of Dragons yet?”
“If Iran gets a nuclear weapon, will it be Israel’s Red Wedding?” the Guardian’s Ben Jacobs said in yet another reference to the cable television show.
Elsewhere, Netanyahu warned U.S. lawmakers that they must remain on guard against Iran’s nuclear ambitions, warning that they U.S. cannot take the same lackadaisical approach it has taken North Korea.
“Now, we’re warned that within five years North Korea could have an arsenal of 100 nuclear bombs. Like North Korea, Iran, too, has defied international inspectors. It’s done that on at least three separate occasions — 2005, 2006, 2010. Like North Korea, Iran broke the locks, shut off the cameras,” the Israeli prime minister said.
“Now, I know this is not going to come as a shock — as a shock to any of you, but Iran not only defies inspectors, it also plays a pretty good game of hide-and-cheat with them,” he said.
Like his reference to “Game of Thrones,” as well as his references to Robert Frost and Ernest Hemingway, Netanyahu’s use of “hide-and-cheat” proved amusing to certain members of the press.
“New kids’ game: Hide and Cheat,” joked the Huffington Post’s Liz Martinez.
The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza added: “Fun fact: Fix Jr plays a lot of ‘hide and cheat.'”
“Do they know Netanyahu supports universal healthcare?” the Daily News’ Greenman joked as Republican lawmakers eagerly applauded the Israeli leader, who is facing his own election in two weeks. Greenman added later, in reference to the president’s absence, “Obama should have sent a hologram.”
But other members of media found the prime minister’s address less amusing than tone-deaf and fear-mongering.
“It is always Munich, 1939. Always and forever,” MSNBC’s Chris Hayes said.
The Atlantic’s James Fallows added separately: “This part of the speech would be very relevant if the year were 1938.”
“Remember, many of the people in Congress are clapping to this nonsense,” the Huffington Post’s Martinez said.
The U.S. press on the day of the prime minister’s address before Congress also continued to suggest that Boehner’s invitation to Netanyahu supposedly caught the White House by surprise.
The Chicago Tribune‘s editorial board, for example, on Tuesday referred to the invitation as a “breach of protocol that ignited a political firestorm.”
Elsewhere, NBC News said in an article that “House Republican leaders extended the invitation to Netanyahu without first consulting the White House, a move considered to be a breach in protocol.”
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday: “House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) had negotiated the appearance with Israeli officials without informing the White House first.”
And the Washington Post stated this week that “Netanyahu was invited to speak by [Boehner], who did not inform the White House of the invitation in advance.”
However, according to a New York Times correction dated Jan. 30, “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel accepted Speaker John A. Boehner’s invitation to address Congress … after the administration had been informed of the invitation, not before.”
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Times explained the news group’s characterization of Boehner’s invite, saying in a statement: “The report … indicates that the appearance was negotiated (not confirmed) prior to the White House being informed. To clarify, the report does not say that the White House wasn’t informed of the invitation.”
Spokespersons for the other news groups that characterized the invite as one that caught the White House by surprise did not respond when asked by Washington Examiner explain the supposed slight in light of the New York Times’ reporting.
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This article has been updated with comment from the Los Agneles Times.
