Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in the United States, has called for new leadership and elections in Israel in a stunning rebuke of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Senate Majority Leader says Netanyahu has ‘lost his way’ and has now become an ‘obstacle to peace’ five months after the October 7 Hamas attacks and the start of the war in Gaza.
In an extraordinary 40-minute speech in the Senate, Israel’s longtime defender said Netanyahu has put himself in a coalition of “far-right extremists” and is more interested in his own political survival than a solution.
Schumer said: “As a democracy, Israel has the right to elect its own leaders, and we should let the chips fall where they may.
“But the important thing is that the Israelis get a choice. A new debate on Israel’s future is due after October 7.
“In my opinion, that is best achieved by holding an election.”
Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer has called for elections and new leadership in Israel because Benjamin Netanyahu is an ‘obstacle to peace’ in some of the most scathing US criticism since the October 7 Hamas attack
A displaced Palestinian man carries containers among the rubble of houses destroyed by Israeli bombardment in the Hamad area, west of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on March 14, 2024
Schumer’s harsh criticism follows moves by President Joe Biden and Democrats to increase pressure on Netanyahu to protect Palestinian civilians as he continues his offensive.
The Biden administration has also called for a temporary ceasefire to get aid to Palestinians and to allow the release of hostages captured by Hamas.
Netanyahu has vowed to continue fighting until Hamas is destroyed.
But Democrats have begun to question his motives, prompting Schumer to deliver some of the most scathing criticism yet.
Schumer added: ‘He (Netanyahu) has been too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza. Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah.
‘As a lifelong supporter of Israel, it has become clear to me: the Netanyahu coalition no longer suits Israel’s needs after October 7.
‘The world has changed – radically – since then, and the Israeli people are currently being suffocated by a governing vision stuck in the past.’
Schumer is pictured with Netanyahu in 2017. He said in his speech: ‘As a lifelong supporter of Israel, it has become clear to me: the Netanyahu coalition no longer fits Israel’s needs after October 7.’
Displaced Palestinians walk through a street littered with rubble in the Hamad area, west of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip
Waves of smoke form the northern part of the Gaza Strip as a result of an Israeli airstrike
Schumer said the only solution is “a demilitarized Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in equal measures of peace, security, prosperity and dignity.”
Netanyahu has rejected the idea of a two-state solution because he believes it would allow a Hamas to maintain its presence and threaten Israel’s future.
Schumer’s comments sparked an immediate reaction from Republicans, who called his speech ‘inappropriate and offensive.’
“The last thing Israel needs is the ‘foreign election interference’ that Democrats so often decry here,” said Republican Senator Tom Cotton.
Relatives of the Al Atrash family mourn their covered bodies at Al Aqsa Hospital after an Israeli airstrike in Deir Al Balah
US President Joe Biden is welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he visits Israel amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 18, 2023
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, speaks to the press after the Democratic Weekly Luncheon at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, March 6, 2024
“Furthermore, the main election that worries Chuck Schumer is not Israel’s, but ours, because the virulent anti-Semitism that the Democratic Party has allowed to fester in its ranks is massively unpopular with the pro-Israel American public”.
White House spokesman John Kirby said he would let Schumer ‘speak for his comments’ when asked about the speech.
“We will remain focused on making sure Israel has what it needs to defend itself while doing everything it can to avoid civilian casualties,” Kirby added.
‘We’re still focused, laser focused, on trying to get a temporary ceasefire in place so we can get the hostages out and get more help, and that’s where our head is right now.’