--- title: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Speech Draws Big Names description: As many as 50 Democrats may be missing the speech, but Republicans and invited guests have packed the house canonical: https://time.com/3730060/benjamin-netanyahu-congress-guests/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-03T16:17:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:05:21.181Z article:section: Politics og:title: Netanyahu Speech to Congress Draws Big Names og:description: From Newt Gingrich to the owner of the New England Patriots. og:url: https://time.com/3730060/benjamin-netanyahu-congress-guests/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt02e96bf2bd1e39c9/698781dc55a859e2a6a861e3/netanyahu-congress.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1870 og:image:height: 1052 og:image:alt: Israeli PM Netanyahu Addresses Joint Meeting Of Congress og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Netanyahu Speech to Congress Draws Big Names twitter:description: From Newt Gingrich to the owner of the New England Patriots. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt02e96bf2bd1e39c9/698781dc55a859e2a6a861e3/netanyahu-congress.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Israeli Prime Minister Speech Draws Big Names > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Know Right Now: Netanyahu's Visit Causes Tensions Between Israel and the U.S. [Watch (HLS stream): Know Right Now: Netanyahu's Visit Causes Tensions Between Israel and the U.S.](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/1r3FQru4.m3u8) (1:03)  _Published 2015-02-25. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to speak before a joint session of Congress on March 3rd, and the upcoming speech is having an affect on politics worldwide._ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 3, 2015 4:17 PM UTC  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is greeted by members of Congress as he arrives to speak during a joint meeting of the United States Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol March 3, 2015 in Washington, DC. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is greeted by members of Congress as he arrives to speak during a joint meeting of the United States Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol March 3, 2015 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 3, 2015 4:17 PM UTC Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before Congress felt a bit like a State of the Union. Despite the partisan contention around the speech which led as many as 53 Democratic lawmakers to skip the speech, it proved popular with Republicans, former lawmakers and interested citizens, according to reporters tweeting at the event. It was a hot ticket. Speaker John Boehner’s office [said there were 10 times](https://twitter.com/AlexPappas/status/572436998729928704) as many requests for tickets as there were seats available in the gallery. Some former lawmakers seen on Capitol Hill Tuesday include former Speaker [Newt Gingrich](https://twitter.com/cimarcos/status/572780742087979008), former representative and current MSNBC host [Joe Scarborough](https://twitter.com/davidshepardson/status/572782249625718784), former representative and current Ohio Gov. [John Kasich](https://twitter.com/IsaacDovere/status/572782947142647808), former Reps. [Michele Bachmann](https://twitter.com/JakeSherman/status/572782351341772801) and [Dennis Kucinich](https://twitter.com/IsaacDovere/status/572781562909073408) and former Sens. [Joe Lieberman](https://twitter.com/cimarcos/status/572780742087979008) and [Norm Coleman](https://twitter.com/KellyO/status/572783435980398593). The event drew some big names in conservative circles. Casino magnate and Republican donor [Sheldon Adelson](https://twitter.com/toddzwillich/status/572783702671028224), Weekly Standard founder [William Kristol](https://twitter.com/jwpetersNYT/status/572784991907786752), conservative radio host [Mark Levin](https://twitter.com/jwpetersNYT/status/572782952549113856), Republican political consultant [Frank Luntz](https://twitter.com/daveweigel/status/572784300480970752) and attorney [Alan Dershowitz](https://twitter.com/jwpetersNYT/status/572784991907786752) were also spotted by reporters inside the Capitol. The speech drew interest from outside politics too. New England Patriots owner [Robert Kraft](https://twitter.com/mikememoli/status/572782842838695936), author and Holocaust survivor [Elie Wiesel](https://twitter.com/mviser/status/572436116604903424) and _Entertainment Tonight_ host [Mary Hart](https://twitter.com/deirdrewalshcnn/status/572779166560464897). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3730060/benjamin-netanyahu-congress-guests/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3730060/benjamin-netanyahu-congress-guests/"},"headline":"Israeli Prime Minister Speech Draws Big Names","datePublished":"2015-03-03T16:17:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:05:21.181Z","description":"As many as 50 Democrats may be missing the speech, but Republicans have packed the house","url":"https://time.com/3730060/benjamin-netanyahu-congress-guests/","keywords":["Congress","Foreign Policy","Israel","Benjamin Netanyahu"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt02e96bf2bd1e39c9/698781dc55a859e2a6a861e3/netanyahu-congress.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt02e96bf2bd1e39c9/698781dc55a859e2a6a861e3/netanyahu-congress.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Israeli PM Netanyahu Addresses Joint Meeting Of Congress","caption":"Israeli PM Netanyahu Addresses Joint Meeting Of Congress","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3730060/benjamin-netanyahu-congress-guests/","name":"Israeli Prime Minister Speech Draws Big Names"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: Netanyahu's Visit Causes Tensions Between Israel and the U.S.","description":"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to speak before a joint session of Congress on March 3rd, and the upcoming speech is having an affect on politics worldwide.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/1r3FQru4/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-02-25T22:46:40.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/1r3FQru4.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3730060/benjamin-netanyahu-congress-guests/","duration":"PT1M3S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3730060/benjamin-netanyahu-congress-guests/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```