US Senate leader Chuck Schumer pushes for Israel elections, calls Benjamin Netanyahu an obstacle to peace
- Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in the US, strongly criticised Israel’s prime minister
- Senate majority leader’s remarks sparked pushback from Netanyahu’s Likud party, US Republicans
The leader of the US Senate called for Israel to hold new elections in the most strident criticism yet by a senior American official of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza.
The rebuke from Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking elected Jewish American in history, came amid increased pressure from President Joe Biden over the mounting death toll in the conflict, sparked by the October 7 attacks by Hamas militants.
“As a democracy, Israel has the right to choose its own leaders, and we should let the chips fall where they may. But the important thing is that Israelis are given a choice,” said Schumer, the head of the chamber’s Democratic majority, without suggesting a timeline for a vote.
“There needs to be a fresh debate about the future of Israel after October 7.”
In a sign of the worsening ties between Washington and the Netanyahu government, Schumer on Thursday said the Israeli leader was one of four “major obstacles” to peace, alongside Hamas, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas and radical right-wing Israelis.