U.S. Senate leader Schumer: Israel’s Netanyahu has ‘lost his way’

The most senior U.S. Jewish official, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, called for new elections in Israel on Thursday, saying he believed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had “lost his way” amid the country’s bombing of Gaza. .

Schumer, a longtime ally of the Jewish state, said Netanyahu risked making his country a “pariah” in international affairs.

An Israeli counteroffensive has killed more than 31,000 people in Gaza since Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis and took about 240 hostage in a shocking attack on Oct. 7, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Palestinians die. The conflict has displaced half of the enclave’s 2.1 million people and razed homes and buildings.

Schumer, the Democratic leader in Congress, said Israel was “too willing to tolerate civilian casualties in Gaza when it launched air and ground attacks on the narrow territory along the Mediterranean coast, which has driven support for Israel around the world to historic lows.”

“The people of Israel are now being suffocated by a vision of governance that is stuck in the past,” he said.

Schumer said: “As a democracy, Israel has the right to choose its own leaders, and we should let it take its course. But it is important that Israelis have a choice. There needs to be a new debate about Israel’s future after October 7.”

“I think the best thing to do is hold an election,” he said.

US President Joe Biden has ignored calls from some other world leaders for an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas, which is now entering its sixth month. But Biden, a staunch ally of Israel, has been urging Netanyahu for weeks to rein in Israeli attacks on Hamas to limit civilian casualties and to work out the terms of a six-week truce and release more hostages.

Biden addressed lawmakers last week in a heated tone after delivering his State of the Union address, promising a “come to Jesus” moment with Netanyahu over the prime minister’s war conduct.

But talks over a limited cessation of fighting stalled in Cairo last week.

After Schumer spoke on the Senate floor, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said there would be no immediate change in U.S. policy on the conflict, which includes providing weapons to Israel.

Kirby said the United States will “remain focused on making sure Israel has everything it needs to defend itself while doing everything we can to avoid civilian casualties, and of course we remain focused — laser focused — on trying to get temporary support.” The ceasefire is in place to allow We were able to free hostages and send more aid to Gaza for hungry Palestinians. “

“That’s what we’re thinking right now,” Kirby concluded.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate, rebuked Schumer’s suggestion that Israel hold new elections.

“For Americans who are overly outraged by foreign interference in our own democracy, calling for the overthrow of Israel’s democratically elected leaders is absurd and hypocritical,” McConnell said.

“This is unprecedented,” he said. “This is not the way we should treat democracies at all.”

Schumer said Netanyahu, who has long opposed Palestinian statehood, was one of several obstacles to a U.S.-backed two-state solution. Schumer also blamed right-wing Israelis, Hamas and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

“There will never be peace in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank” unless they all play a critical role, Schumer said.

It’s unclear how Schumer’s unusually direct call for new elections will be received in Israel. The next parliamentary election is expected to be held in 2026, but may be held before then.

Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog, called the speech “counterproductive to our common goals” on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).

“Israel is a sovereign democracy,” Herzog said. “It is unhelpful to comment on the domestic political situation of a democratic ally at a time when Israel is at war with the genocidal terrorist group Hamas.”

Many Israelis hold Netanyahu responsible for failing to prevent Hamas’s cross-border attacks in October, but the Israeli leader declined to answer questions about any security shortcomings and expressed concern about the October 7 security failure. Any serious review would have to wait until after the war.