At Netanyahu’s Watergate quarters, residents irked by protests, security

For the hundreds of residents, guests, employees and business owners at the storied Watergate complex in D.C., routines have been upended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stay at the Watergate Hotel.



Law enforcement heightened security around the Watergate complex and the Watergate Hotel in Washington. (Emma Uber/The Washington Post)

By Emma Uber
Updated July 25, 2024 at 5:25 p.m. EDT | Published July 25, 2024 at 2:34 p.m. EDT

A car wove between the looming black fences and concrete street barricades that stretched for blocks to reach the white tent. Beneath the canopy, it stopped so one police officer could search the trunk while another popped open the hood. A third questioned the driver while a fourth led a police dog around the vehicle.

For the hundreds of residents, guests, employees and business owners at the storied Watergate complex in D.C., this is what entering and exiting their home or place of work this week looks like. Their routines have been upended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stay at the Watergate Hotel and — whether it be because of political disagreements or daily inconveniences — many residents are upset the hotel allowed the embattled world leader to stay at the complex.

Resident Lisa-Joy Zgorski, who has lived at the Watergate for nine years, said the complex is no stranger to VIP guests. In fact, her neighbors used to include Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and former Senate majority leader Robert J. Dole. She remembered President Biden coming to pay Dole a visit, but said she could not remember the complex or law enforcement ever going to this length to protect a visitor. … “The political pursuits that are embodied in the visit are on the backs of those of us thousands of Americans that live or work in or around the Watergate,” Zgorski said.

Netanyahu arrived in Washington this week and addressed a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday as his government approaches its tenth month of war in Gaza. Dozens of lawmakers refused to attend his speech, in which he brushed off criticisms that Israel’s government has committed war crimes. His presence in Washington has been met with mass protests condemning the Israeli leader’s “genocide” against Palestinians. … In addition to assembling near Union Station and inside the rotunda of the Cannon House Office Building, demonstrators gathered outside the Watergate and some claimed to be responsible for releasing swarms of maggots, mealworms and crickets at the hotel Tuesday night.

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