By Mary Clare Jalonick and Ellen Knickmeyer, Associated Press
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer urged Israel to have new elections, saying he believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “strayed from the right path” and is hindering peace in the region amid a growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Schumer, the first Jewish majority leader in the Senate and the highest-ranking Jewish official in the U.S., strongly criticized Netanyahu in a 40-minute speech Thursday morning on the Senate floor. Schumer said the prime minister has aligned himself with far-right extremists and “as a result, he has been too willing to accept the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows.”
“Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah,” Schumer said.
The high-level warning comes as an increasing number of Democrats have pushed back against Israel and as President Joe Biden has increased public pressure on Netanyahu’s government, warning that he needs to pay more attention to the civilian death toll in Gaza amid the Israeli bombardment. The U.S. this month started airdrops of much-needed humanitarian aid and announced it will set up a temporary pier to get more assistance into Gaza via sea.
Schumer has so far positioned himself as a strong ally of the Israeli government, visiting the country just days after the brutal Oct. 7 attack by Hamas and giving a lengthy speech on the Senate floor in December denouncing ”brazen and widespread antisemitism the likes of which we haven’t seen in generations in this country, if ever.”
But he said on the Senate floor Thursday that the ”Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past.”
Schumer says Netanyahu, who has long opposed Palestinian statehood, is one of several obstacles in the way of the two-state solution pushed by the United States. Netanyahu “has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel,” Schumer said.
Schumer is also blaming right-wing Israelis, Hamas and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Until they are all removed from the equation, he says, “there will never be peace in Israel and Gaza and the West Bank.”
Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.
Schumer says the United States cannot dictate the outcome of an election in Israel, but “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.”
Netanyahu has had a close relationship with Republicans in the United States for a long time. He notably spoke at a joint session of Congress in 2015 at the invitation of GOP lawmakers to try to undermine former President Barack Obama’s nuclear negotiations with Iran. This move angered Obama administration officials, who saw it as a way to bypass Obama’s authority and interfere deeply in U.S. politics and foreign policy.
Just this week, Netanyahu was invited to speak to Republican senators at a party retreat. But Israeli ambassador Michael Herzog took his place due to last-minute scheduling issues, according to a person familiar with the closed-door meeting.
It is unclear how Schumer’s unusually direct call will be received in Israel, where the next parliamentary elections are scheduled for October 2026. Many Israelis blame Netanyahu for failing to stop the Oct. 7 cross-border raid by Hamas, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and it seems like his popularity has suffered as a result.
Protesters in Israel calling for early elections have accused Netanyahu of making decisions based on maintaining his right-wing coalition rather than Israel’s interests during times of war. They also say he is risking Israel’s strategic alliance with the United States by rejecting U.S. proposals for a post-war vision for Gaza in order to satisfy the far-right members of his government.
U.S. priorities in the region have increasingly been hindered by those far-right members of his Cabinet, who share Netanyahu’s opposition to Palestinian statehood and other goals that successive U.S. administrations have viewed as crucial for resolving long-term Palestinian-Israeli conflicts.
In a private moment while speaking to lawmakers after his State of the Union address, Biden promised a serious conversation with Netanyahu.
And Vice President Kamala Harris, Schumer and other lawmakers met last week in Washington with Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s War Cabinet and a much more popular rival of Netanyahu — a visit that drew a criticism from the Israeli prime minister.
Gantz joined Netanyahu’s government in the War Cabinet shortly after the Hamas attacks. But Gantz is expected to leave the government once the heaviest fighting decreases, indicating that the period of national unity has ended. A return to mass demonstrations could increase pressure on Netanyahu’s highly unpopular coalition to hold early elections.
Schumer, as the highest ranking Jewish elected official in the United States, feels it is his duty to speak out. He mentioned that his last name comes from the Hebrew word Shomer, which means “guardian.”
“I also feel strongly about my responsibility as Shomer Yisroel — a guardian of the People of Israel,” he said.
Schumer mentioned that if Israel takes greater control over Gaza and the West Bank and creates a “de facto single state,” then there should be no reasonable expectation that Hamas and their allies will disarm. It could mean continuous war, he said.
“Israel has the freedom to select its own leaders, and we should allow the consequences to happen,” Schumer stated. “But what matters most is that Israelis have the opportunity to make a decision.”
