--- title: Here's the Sculpture of Moses in Congress that Netanyahu Referenced description: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referenced a sculpture of Moses in Congress during his speech. canonical: https://time.com/3730272/benjamin-netanyahu-moses-sculpture/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-03T17:29:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:59:46.935Z article:section: Politics og:title: Here's the Sculpture of Moses That Netanyahu Referenced og:description: It's roughly the same age as the modern state of Israel. og:url: https://time.com/3730272/benjamin-netanyahu-moses-sculpture/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8bd74dcb27bcfc4a/698781e25f570f37dcb158dc/moses-relief.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: moses-relief og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's the Sculpture of Moses That Netanyahu Referenced twitter:description: It's roughly the same age as the modern state of Israel. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8bd74dcb27bcfc4a/698781e25f570f37dcb158dc/moses-relief.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's the Sculpture of Moses That Netanyahu Referenced ## Video: Real Time: Netanyahu Speaks to Congress [Watch (HLS stream): Real Time: Netanyahu Speaks to Congress](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/6QkUJFlN.m3u8) (1:33)  _Published 2015-03-03. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin_ by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Mar 3, 2015 5:29 PM UTC  Architect of the Capitol by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Mar 3, 2015 5:29 PM UTC Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dropped a lot of names during his speech to Congress: Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, Secretary of State John Kerry, Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, even poet Robert Frost. But for the close he went for an obvious pick: Moses. “Facing me right up there in the gallery, overlooking all of us … is the image of Moses,” he said. “Moses led our people from slavery to the gates of the Promised Land.” He then quoted [Deuteronomy 31:6](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+31%3A6&version=KJV), Moses’ parting words to the Israelites, in Hebrew: “Be strong and resolute, neither fear nor dread them.” Netanyahu was referencing a marble relief that has hung in the House chamber since 1950, just two years after the modern state of Israel was founded. The bas relief was sculpted of white Vermont marble by artist Jean de Marco, according to [the Architect of the Capitol](http://1.usa.gov/1zEQ1yq). It’s part of a [series of 23 portraits](http://www.aoc.gov/capitol-hill/relief-portrait-plaques-lawgivers/about-relief-portrait-plaques-lawgivers) chosen to represent historical figures who established the legal principles underlying the American system of government. Moses is in the center, facing forward, with 11 portraits on either side facing right and left toward him. Other portraits include Hammurabi, Pope Gregory IX and Thomas Jefferson. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3730272/benjamin-netanyahu-moses-sculpture/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3730272/benjamin-netanyahu-moses-sculpture/"},"headline":"Here's the Sculpture of Moses That Netanyahu Referenced","datePublished":"2015-03-03T17:29:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:59:46.935Z","description":"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referenced a sculpture of Moses in Congress during his speech.","url":"https://time.com/3730272/benjamin-netanyahu-moses-sculpture/","keywords":["Foreign Policy","Congress","Israel","Benjamin Netanyahu"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8bd74dcb27bcfc4a/698781e25f570f37dcb158dc/moses-relief.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ryan Teague Beckwith","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8bd74dcb27bcfc4a/698781e25f570f37dcb158dc/moses-relief.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"moses-relief","caption":"","creditText":"Architect of the Capitol","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/foreign-policy/","name":"Foreign Policy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3730272/benjamin-netanyahu-moses-sculpture/","name":"Here's the Sculpture of Moses That Netanyahu Referenced"}}]},{"@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/3730272/benjamin-netanyahu-moses-sculpture/","duration":"PT1M3S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3730272/benjamin-netanyahu-moses-sculpture/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Real Time: Netanyahu Speaks to Congress","description":"Israel Prime Minister Benjamin","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/6QkUJFlN/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-03-03T20:11:15.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/6QkUJFlN.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3730272/benjamin-netanyahu-moses-sculpture/","duration":"PT1M33S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3730272/benjamin-netanyahu-moses-sculpture/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```