Schumer Calls for New Elections in Israel

By Matis Glenn

Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Israel Thursday to hold new elections to replace Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and was met with severe backlash from Republicans, Israel’s ambassador and U.S. pro-Israel groups.

Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish member in the U.S. government, said in a speech at the Senate floor that Netanyahu had “lost his way,” and alleged that Netanyahu’s coalition has resulted in him being “too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows,” and that the ”Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past.”

The Senator said that Netanyahu, right-wing Israelis, Hamas, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas are obstacles to a two-state solution, and stated that all need to be removed, otherwise “there will never be peace in Israel and Gaza and the West Bank.”

Netanyahu has firmly insisted, with the backing of the majority of Israelis according to polling data, that a Palestinian state formed after the horrific massacres committed by the Gaza-elected Hamas terror group, which denies Israel’s right to exist and calls for the genocide of every Jew in its charter, will result in more terrorist attacks. It will also reward Palestinian terrorism, they say, and serve as a message that terror groups will get what they want if they attack Jews.

National Union head Benny Gantz, a longtime rival of Netanyahu, rejected Schumer’s remarks, joining Israeli and American pro-Israel groups who criticized the senator, saying that he attempted to interfere with Israeli democracy.

Schumer is “a friend of Israel, who helps it a lot even these days,” Gantz, who is a member of the emergency unity war cabinet, said in a statement. “but he made a mistake in his statement. Israel is a strong democracy, and only its citizens will determine its leadership and future. Any external intervention in the matter is incorrect and unacceptable.”

“Israel is not a banana republic, rather an independent and proud democracy that elected Prime Minister Netanyahu,” Likud said in a statement. “Prime Minister Netanyahu leads a determined policy that is supported by a huge majority of the people. Contrary to Schumer’s words, the Israeli public supports a complete victory over Hamas, rejects any international dictate to establish a Palestinian terrorist state, and opposes the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza.

“It is hoped that Senator Schumer will respect Israel’s elected government and not undermine it. This is always true, and even more so in wartime.”

Senate Minority Leader, Republican Mitch McConnell strongly rebuked Schumer, calling the remarks “unprecedented.”

“The Jewish state of Israel deserves an ally that acts like one. The people of Israel, at home and in captivity, deserve America’s support. We should not treat fellow democracies this way at all.”

McConnell flipped Schumer’s casting of Netanyahu being an obstacle to peace.

“The primary ‘obstacles to peace’ in Israel’s region are genocidal terrorists like Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad who slaughter innocent people and corrupt leaders of the Palestinian Authority who have repeatedly rejected peace deals from multiple Israeli governments.

“And foreign observers who cannot keep these clear distinctions straight ought to refrain from weighing in.

“Things that upset left-wing activists are not a prime minister’s policies – they are Israel’s policies. Make no mistake – the Democratic Party doesn’t have an anti-Bibi problem. It has an anti-Israel problem.”

“Israel is not a colony of America whose leaders serve at the pleasure of the party in power in Washington. Only Israel’s citizens should have a say in who runs their government. This is the very definition of democracy and sovereignty.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, told CNN that Schumer’s call for a new election in Israel is “highly inappropriate” and “just plain wrong – for an American leader to play such a divisive role in Israeli politics while our closest ally in the region is in an existential battle for its very survival. We need to be standing with Israel.”

The American Israeli Public Affairs Committee released a statement saying that “Israel is an independent democracy that decides for itself when elections are held and chooses its own leaders. America must continue to stand with our ally Israel and ensure it has the time and resources it needs to win this war. Hamas bears sole responsibility for this conflict. The hope for a brighter future for the Middle East begins with Israel’s decisive defeat of Hamas.”