WASHINGTON – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday called for new elections in Israel to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in the most significant criticism of the Israeli government since the war with Hamas began.
Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official of the United States, said in his speech in the Senate that “Netanyahu’s coalition no longer meets Israel’s needs after October 7.”
“The world has changed since then – radically – and the people of Israel are being suffocated by a vision of governance that is stuck in the past,” Schumer said in the New York Democratic leader’s keynote address.
Schumer said Netanyahu had “lost his way” by “allowing his political survival to take precedence over Israel’s best interests.” Schumer said Netanyahu had aligned himself with “far-right extremists” such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and had “reduced world support for Israel to historic lows.”
“Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah,” the majority leader said.
Schumer argued that Israel must make “course corrections” in its strategy against Hamas and do a better job of protecting Palestinian civilians in Gaza. “They don’t deserve to suffer for the sins of Hamas, and Israel has a moral obligation to do better,” he said. “The United States has an obligation to do better.”
Schumer expressed support for a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas, as proposed by President Joe Biden, saying it would “allow for the return of hostages and humanitarian aid to the suffering Palestinians.” He said he opposed a permanent ceasefire because it would allow Hamas to “regroup and carry out further attacks against Israeli civilians.”
“If Hamas has any significant power, there can never be a two-state solution,” he said.