Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the Center for American Progress November 10, 2015 in Washington, DC. | Getty Bibi turns on the charm for liberals The Israeli prime minister engages with progressive Democrats as part of a peace-making visit to Washington.

Benjamin Netanyahu stepped into a liberal lions’ den on Tuesday — and walked away with nary a scratch.

The hawkish Israeli prime minister, in his first-ever appearance at the left-leaning Center for American Progress, fielded a tough set of questions in a room filled with liberals who frequently dismiss his intentions. Many were still upset over Netanyahu’s campaign against the Iran nuclear deal, which also put him at odds with President Barack Obama, not to mention his seeming reluctance in pursuing a peace deal with the Palestinians.


But Netanyahu, whose visit to Washington comes amid a spate of Israeli-Palestinian clashes, struck a conciliatory, even jocular tone. At the same time, he staunchly defended his government’s policies, blamed Palestinian leaders for the failure to end the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, expressed disbelief that liberal groups are standing up for Islamist regimes and warned that the Middle East faces a long battle pitting “modernity" against "early medievalism.”

The prime minister as well as Israel’s allies in Washington, D.C., such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, have made a point of reaching out to Democrats in the wake of the dust-up over the Iran nuclear deal, which survived a September vote in Congress. Speaking with a sore throat, Netanyahu made sure to praise Obama’s commitment to Israel, offering kind words for the Democratic president with whom he has long had testy relations.

“I think it’s vital to understand how important it is for me that Israel remain an issue of bipartisan consensus,” he said to applause.

The center, which is linked to Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton’s political machine, drew criticism from many liberal activists for agreeing to host the Israeli premier. The seats, however, were filled at the invitation-only gathering, and the security was so tight that participants were told to remain in their seats a full half-hour before the program started. The audience maintained a respectful silence throughout most of the event.

Neera Tanden, a former Clinton aide who now serves as the center’s president, moderated the conversation with Netanyahu, posing most of the questions. The subjects raised covered everything from how to deal with Israeli settlers who attack Palestinians to where the Israeli leader sees the country in 20 years. (Tanden drew criticism online for not asking more follow-up questions or challenging some of Netanyahu's assertions.)

Netanyahu minced no words in describing the poor state of relations with the Palestinians, saying there would be no peace if the Palestinians refused to accept Israel’s legitimacy. As he often has, he pointed to Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, which later fell to the avowedly anti-Israel militant group Hamas, as an example of the dangers facing his country.

“If we were to set up a Palestinian state, how do we make sure that that state does not become another Gaza and is not committed to our destruction and doesn’t work for our destruction?” asked Netanyahu, who also insisted he would enter peace talks without preconditions.

He also said there was no "symmetry" between Israeli and Palestinian societies, at least not when it comes to how they deal with the concept of violence. "We don’t send (children) to suicide kindergarten camps," Netanyahu said. "We do not teach them that you have to obliterate Palestine."

Netanyahu expressed disdain for some groups that support Palestinian and related causes. “I see ‘Gays for Gaza.’ I see ‘Gays for Iran.’ The people who do that are supporting people who would murder them!” the Israeli leader said.

The prime minister also downplayed Israel’s construction of settlements in territories claimed by the Palestinians, saying reports about their growth were vastly exaggerated and that any additional building was on existing settlements, which constitute a tiny percentage of the land in dispute.

“It’s become an axiom that we are gobbling up land — we’re not,” he said.

Speaking more broadly about the region, Netanyahu said he did not know whether Syria would be able to survive as a state after so many years of civil war. He said he believed that ultimately militant Islam will be defeated (“I’m quite confident of that. I don’t think it can compete with the desire for freedom.”), but he also warned of the spreading influence of Iran, which he said is building a terrorist network around the world.

Some on the left were livid that the progressive think tank would give a platform to a man they see as heavy-handed against the Palestinians. A group of activists sent a letter to the center saying it “made a mistake.” Others commended the center for engaging with Netanyahu; Amnesty International USA even sent a list of questions it wanted asked.

Aside from the nuclear deal, which was not discussed much at the Tuesday gathering, Netanyahu has recently hurt his standing among U.S. liberals in other ways. His claim that a Muslim leader persuaded Adolf Hitler to go through with the Holocaust and his choice of a government spokesman who has previously derided Obama earned fresh criticism. Netanyahu retracted his Holocaust claim and the would-be spokesman also has apologized.

During Tuesday's event, the prime minister also said he was “wrong” during Israel's March election to warn that Arabs were coming out to vote "in droves," a statement many took as borderline racist and deeply offensive to Israel’s Arab citizens. Netanyahu explained that he was trying to refer to a specific voter list opposed to him, and also noted that he received many Israeli Arab votes.

Although Netanyahu’s visit to the progressive think tank has received more attention, the Israeli leader has also made time during his visit to meet with Washington’s conservative establishment. On Monday evening, a few hours after what the prime minister described as a "very good" meeting with Obama, Netanyahu was honored during a dinner hosted by the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

At both the start and the end Tuesday’s gathering at the Center for American Progress, Netanyahu expressed his gratitude for being allowed to speak there, acknowledging the controversy it had caused.

“Invite me again,” he said.