On Friday, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra strongly criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for what she described as the Israeli government’s “genocidal actions” in Gaza, accusing them of “barbarism.” Her remarks followed Netanyahu’s defense of Israel’s ongoing conflict in Gaza during a speech to the US Congress on Wednesday, where he was warmly welcomed by House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republican lawmakers.
Netanyahu received a bipartisan standing ovation. Priyanka Gandhi argued that merely expressing concern for the civilians, including mothers, fathers, doctors, nurses, aid workers, journalists, teachers, writers, poets, senior citizens, and countless innocent children being killed daily by the “horrific genocide” in Gaza, was insufficient. She emphasized India’s duty as part of the international community to stand up for what is right.
“It is the moral responsibility of every right-thinking individual, including all those Israeli citizens who do not believe in hatred and violence, and every government in the world to condemn the Israeli government’s genocidal actions and force them to stop,” she stated in a post on X. According to Priyanka Gandhi, these actions are unacceptable in a world that claims to uphold civility and morality. “Instead, we are subjected to the image of the Israeli prime minister being given a standing ovation in the US Congress,” she added.
“He (Netanyahu) calls it ‘a clash between barbarism and civilization’. He is absolutely correct, except that it is him and his government that are barbaric and their barbarism is being given the unstinted support of most of the western world. It is truly a shame to watch,” Priyanka Gandhi declared. The Congress leader has consistently voiced her opposition to Israel’s actions in Gaza and shown solidarity with the Palestinians.