- He warned that if the PM’s coalition continued with ‘dangerous’ policies after the Gaza war, the U.S. would look at a ‘more active role’ in shaping Israeli policy
- The top Democrat says the current government ‘no longer fits the needs of Israel’ after the October 7 attack by Hamas
The leader of the US Senate called Thursday for Israel to hold new elections in the most strident criticism yet by a senior American official of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza.
The remarks from Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking elected Jewish-American in history, came amid increased pressure from US President Joe Biden over the mounting death toll in the conflict, sparked by the October 7 attacks by Hamas militants.
“As a democracy, Israel has the right to choose its own leaders, and we should let the chips fall where they may. But the important thing is that Israelis are given a choice,” said Schumer, the head of the chamber’s Democratic majority, without suggesting a timeline for a vote.
“There needs to be a fresh debate about the future of Israel after October 7.”
Schumer said Netanyahu was one of four “major obstacles” to a two-state solution and peace, alongside Hamas and its Palestinian supporters, radical right-wing Israelis and the Palestinian Authority’s leader Mahmoud Abbas.
He accused the Israeli leader of surrounding himself with right-wing extremists and being “too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows.”
“Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah,” Schumer, an outspoken ally of the Israeli government who visited the country just days after the attacks, told colleagues on the Senate floor.
He warned that if Netanyahu’s coalition continued to pursue “dangerous and inflammatory” policies after the war, the United States would look at playing “a more active role in shaping Israeli policy by using our leverage to change the present course”.
“Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah,” Schumer, an outspoken ally of the Israeli government who visited the country just days after the attacks, told colleagues on the Senate floor.
The conflict began when Hamas militants attacked Israel last October, resulting in about 1,160 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse count based on official figures.
Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel has carried out a relentless campaign of bombardment and ground operations in Gaza, killing at least 31,341 people – most of them civilians, according to the territory’s health ministry.
Schumer’s remarks were welcomed by liberal lobby group J Street as a “historic shift” for pro-Israel Democrats that reflected the views of the “overwhelming majority” of American Jews.
But they sparked an angry pushback from Netanyahu’s Likud party which retorted that Israel “is not a banana republic but an independent and proud democracy that elected Prime Minister Netanyahu”.
Israel’s envoy to Washington, Michael Herzog, called the comments “unhelpful” while former prime minister Naftali Bennett called out “external political intervention” in Israel’s affairs.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said that Schumer had given the White House advance notice about the speech, but that it had not given disapproval or approval or edited in anyway.