President Joe Biden on Friday praised Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s controversial speech, in which the New York Democrat called for new elections in Israel to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
On Thursday, Schumer said Netanyahu had “lost his way” and become an “obstacle to peace” by assembling a coalition of “far-right extremists” to lead the Israeli government in its war against Hamas after the October 7 terror attacks. .
That war has led to an escalating death toll among Palestinian civilians in Gaza, prompting a global call for a ceasefire, including among the Democratic left, which voted ‘uncommitted’ to Biden during the Democratic primaries to send a message.
‘Sen. Schumer contacted my staff – my senior staffer – and said he was going to give that speech. And I’m not going to comment on the speech,” Biden told reporters on Friday as he met Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in the Oval Office.
“He gave a good speech and I think he expressed serious concerns, which were shared not only by him but by many Americans,” Biden added.
President Joe Biden praised Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s controversial speech on Friday, in which the Democratic leader called for new elections in Israel to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
On Thursday, Schumer said Netanyahu had “lost his way” and become an “obstacle to peace” by assembling a coalition of “far-right extremists” to lead the Israeli government in its war against Hamas after the October 7 terror attacks.
An earlier White House statement said Schumer had warned the president that he planned to give the speech, and that the administration expressed “neither approval nor disapproval” of it.
Both Israel and Republican allies in Congress have rejected Schumer’s words.
Israel called Schumer’s speech “not helpful” while the country was “at war against a genocidal terrorist organization.”
The top Republican in the Senate, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, called Schumer’s speech “grotesque.”
“It is grotesque and hypocritical for Americans who are hyperventilating about foreign interference in our own democracy to call for the removal of Israel’s democratically elected leader,” McConnell said. ‘This is unprecedented.’
Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Herzog said: “Israel is a sovereign democracy. It is futile, especially now that Israel is at war against the genocidal terrorist organization Hamas, to comment on the domestic political scene of a democratic ally. It is counterproductive to our common goals.”
Schumer’s harsh criticism follows efforts by President Joe Biden and Democrats to increase pressure on Netanyahu to protect Palestinian civilians as he continues his offensive.
Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas following the terror group’s October 7 atrocity in Israel
The Biden administration has also called for a temporary ceasefire to get aid to the Palestinians and allow the release of hostages captured by Hamas.
Netanyahu has vowed to continue fighting until Hamas is destroyed.
But Democrats are beginning to question his motives, prompting Schumer to issue some of his most scathing criticisms 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 fits Israel’s needs after October 7.
“The world has changed – radically – since then, and the Israeli people are currently being suffocated by a government vision stuck in the past.”
Schumer said the only solution is “a demilitarized Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in equal measure of peace, security, prosperity and dignity.”
Netanyahu has rejected the idea of a two-state solution because he believes it would allow Hamas to maintain its presence and threaten Israel’s future.
Schumer’s comments prompted an immediate response from Republicans, who called his speech “inappropriate and offensive.”
“The last thing Israel needs is the ‘foreign election interference’ that Democrats here so often decry,” said Republican Senator Tom Cotton.
“Furthermore, the most important election that concerns Chuck Schumer is not Israel’s, but our elections, because the rampant anti-Semitism that the Democratic Party has allowed to fester within its ranks is deeply unpopular with the pro-Israel American public.”