Netanyahu Says Schumer Call for Israel Election Was Inappropriate

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CNN on Sunday that U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s speech in which he urged new elections in Israel was “totally inappropriate.”

In a speech on the Senate floor on Thursday, Schumer, a longtime supporter of Israel and the highest-ranking Jewish U.S. elected official, called for new elections in Israel and said Netanyahu was an obstacle to peace.

“I think what he said is totally inappropriate. It’s inappropriate to go to a sister democracy and try to replace the elected leadership there,” Netanyahu said in the CNN interview.

The speech reflected growing frustration in Washington with Netanyahu, his management of the war with Hamas, and the civilian death toll in Gaza. International criticism of US support for Israel has mounted due to the death toll in the coastal enclave, where Hamas terrorists have been criticized for embedding themselves among the civilian population and using civilians as human shields.

Schumer said it would be a “grave mistake” for Israel to reject a two-state solution and urged negotiators in the Israel-Gaza conflict to do everything possible to secure a ceasefire, free hostages and get aid into Gaza.

President Joe Biden said on Friday that Schumer’s comments echoed the concerns of many Americans, describing the remarks as a “good speech.”

Still, White House spokesperson John Kirby said on Sunday that Biden believed it was up to Israel to make its own decisions about internal politics.

“We respect the sovereignty of the Israeli people,” Kirby told Fox News Sunday. “The president believes it’s up to the Israeli people and the Israeli government to determine if and when there’s going to be new elections.”

Schumer did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Netanyahu’s reaction to his speech.

In Israel, Netanyahu dismissed international pressure on Sunday and said Israel’s military would push into Rafah, the last Hamas stronghold in Gaza, after more than five months of war.

Republican congressman Michael McCaul, who leads the House of Representatives Foreign Relations Committee, criticized Schumer’s remarks, comparing them to an effort to topple Israel’s government.

“You don’t talk about toppling a government in a democracy,” McCaul told Fox News Sunday, calling Schumer’s remarks “very inappropriate” and “embarrassing.”

Schumer also criticized Palestinians who support Islamist group Hamas, and said Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas also should step aside.

Schumer raised the possibility of Washington using its leverage if Israel does not change course. Still, he did not go as far as suggesting a step some Democrats advocate: introducing legislation to make easing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza a condition for the U.S. providing more weapons to Israel.

“It’s indicative of now the split in the Democratic Party … and I think what you’re seeing is a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel faction in the Democratic Party,” McCaul said.

Israel launched its military offensive in Gaza after Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists launched a surprise invasion of the Jewish state on Oct. 7, massacring 1,200 people and kidnapping 253 others before Israeli forces repelled the onslaught.