Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Harry Reid cheered before controversial Netanyahu speech

Reid Netanyahu

Susan Walsh / AP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talks with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, center, and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., left, before addressing a joint meeting of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 3, 2015.

Sen. Harry Reid received bipartisan cheers and a standing ovation this morning before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began a controversial speech to Congress.

“Harry, it’s good to see you on your feet,” said Netanyahu, prompting the Senate minority leader to gingerly stand up from his front-row seat and wave in recognition.

“I guess it’s true what they say, ‘You can’t keep a good man down,’” Netanyahu continued as Reid sat back down and members of Congress from both parties stood and applauded.

Reid is recovering from a New Year’s Day exercise accident in which he broke four ribs, suffered a concussion and has undergone two surgeries to try to restore the vision in his right eye. He missed nearly all of the first month of Congress.

House and Senate lawmakers packed into the House of Representatives chamber this morning to hear Netanyahu blast President Barack Obama’s nuclear negotiations with Iran in a speech that did not have the White House’s blessing. Some Democrats chose not to attend the speech in protest.

Reid, wearing glasses with his right eye covered, was there.

Reid and Netanyahu have a reported good relationship​, and they exchanged words before the speech.

Still, it was a quite a surprise that the opening line from one of the most controversial and partisan moments in Congress this year would yield a bipartisan standing ovation for one of Washington’s most polarized figures.

All of Nevada’s six-member delegation attended the speech.

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