WASHINGTON — New York Sen. Chuck Schumer said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “lost his way,” urged new elections in Israel, called for a two-state solution and said the US should use its “leverage” to push for its goals in the region if Netanyahu remains in power.
Sen. Chuck Schumer and PM Netanyahu in better times, meeting in Jerusalem Feb 23, 2021. (Amos Ben-Gershom/Israel GPO)
“As a lifelong supporter of Israel, it has become clear to me the Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after Oct. 7,” Schumer said in the speech from the Senate floor on March 14.
“The world has changed radically since then, and the Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past.”
He added, near the end of the speech, “Israel is a democracy. Five months into this conflict it is clear that Israelis need to take stock of the situation and ask, must we change course? At this critical juncture I believe a new election is the only way to allow for a healthy and open decision-making process about the future of Israel at a time when so many Israelis have lost their confidence in the vision and direction of their government.”
The speech comes amid widening cracks between President Joe Biden and Israel’s government five months into the Israel-Hamas war. Biden, along with many Democratic, including Schumer, gave Israel unequivocal support following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.
But they have more recently expressed frustration with the death toll in Gaza, whose measure by Hamas authorities they accept, a humanitarian crisis in the territory and Netanyahu’s opposition to accepting the Palestinian Authority as the leader of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.
As Schumer delivered his speech, the State Dept. announced sanctions on three Israelis for alleged violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
The three will be barred from entering the US and be subject to financial penalties for actions that “undermine the national security and foreign policy objectives of the US, including the viability of a two-state solution,” the State Dept. said. The US has sanctioned four other West Bank settlers on similar grounds in recent months.
Schumer, the Senate majority leader, highlighted his longstanding connection to Israel. As he frequently does, Schumer noted that his name comes from the Hebrew word shomer, meaning guardian.
Speaking on the floor of the Senate last week, Schumer expressed his support for Israel’s existence and excoriated Hamas as well as its supporters following its Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which launched the current war.
He also called Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas an “obstacle to peace” on the same plane that Netanyahu is an “obstacles to peace.”
He said he spoke for a “silent majority” of American Jews, many of whom, he said, were “horrified” that Israel was falling short of upholding Jewish values due to its far-right coalition members and the way it is prosecuting the war in Gaza.
He castigated Netanyahu for actively opposing a two-state solution.
“Netanyahu has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel.
“He has put himself in a coalition with far-right extremists,” Schumer said, singling out Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
Israel has the right to self-defense, Schumer said, but added, “How it exercises that right matters. Israel must prioritize the protection of civilian casualties.”
Should another government opposed to Israeli-Palestinian peace form in Israel as a result of new elections, Schumer said that the US government should not unquestioningly support it.
“The US government should demand that Israel conduct itself with a future two-state solution in mind.
“We should not be forced into a position of unequivocally supporting the actions of an Israeli government that includes bigots who reject the idea of a Palestinian state,” Schumer said.
Israel’s ambassador to the US, Michael Herzog, condemned Schumer’s speech as “counterproductive.”
“It is unhelpful, all the more so as Israel is at war against the genocidal terror organization Hamas, to comment on the domestic political scene of a democratic ally,” Herzog said on X.
The leader of Israel’s opposition, Yair Lapid, said Schumer’s speech showed that Netanyahu was losing Israel’s most prominent supporters in the US.
“What’s even worse — he’s doing it on purpose,” Lapid said on X. “Netanyahu is causing heavy damage to the national effort to win the war.”
But other Netanyahu rivals criticized Schumer. Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, a former Netanyahu ally who unseated him in 2021, condemned the speech.
“Regardless of our political opinion, we strongly oppose external political intervention in Israel’s internal affairs,” Bennett said in an English-language post on X.
>“We are an independent nation, not a banana republic.”
I would love a two states solution, but many people say it will not work, because Hamas will not let Jews live in peace. No matter what they want to wipe us off the face of the Earth. Then tell me how we’re supposed to live right next to one another. I agree that yahoo should get out most Israelis don’t want him. Alcohol poisoning I’m tired of the news always making Israel wrong with all the casualties that have been reported. It’s Hamas that is reporting to the news stations which they are not reliable and emphasize their cause . So how do we know, really know that they’ve been 30,000 victims killed? We don’t.