As this publication reported yesterday, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Schumer called for fresh elections in Israel, the only Democracy in the Middle East, his speech on the Senate floor outlined how Prime Minister Netanyahu had “lost his way” and the Israeli people needed a fresh choice in leadership.
Criticism of Schumer’s Comments:
Senate Minority Leader McConnell responded by criticizing the unprecedented speech from a Senate Majority Leader against the government of an ally democracy. Senator McConnell pointed out that Israel is a democracy and the United States cannot call for new elections in an allied democracy, only the Israeli people can do that. Which they did in November 2022 and elected the Netanyahu government after five elections over four years.
Indeed, the speech from Senator Schumer was lambasted even by Benny Gantz, the opposition leader who would probably be elected Prime Minister if Israel held elections today. Gantz is a member of the coalition war cabinet which is leading policies in the Gaza War which is highly popular among Israelis after the October 7th massacres.
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????? ???? ???????? ????? ???? ???? ??? ???? ?????, ?????? ?? ???? ?? ????? ???, ?? ??? ??? ?????????. ????? ??? ???????? ????, ???…— ??? ??? – Benny Gantz (@gantzbe) March 14, 2024
Walk Backs and Democratic Woes:
This reply, in addition to the Israeli Ambassador to the U.S.’ comments on the speech that we covered yesterday, completely embarrasses the overtly imperialistic speech that Senator Schumer made yesterday. So much so that Senator Schumer attempted to walk back his comments in the following X post:
The U.S. cannot dictate the outcome of an election.
That is for the Israeli public to decide.
As a democracy, Israel has the right to choose its own leaders.
But the important thing is that Israelis are given a choice.
There needs to be a fresh debate about the future.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) March 14, 2024
However, U.S. Democrats must now carefully thread the needle of support to Israel while Muslim and far-left Democrats, especially in Michigan and Minnesota, turn against President Biden in the upcoming elections. Senator Schumer hoped that by calling for Netanyahu’s ousting he could split the baby with his extreme left base and moderate Jews, but the response of Benny Gantz seriously wounds Senator Schumer’s overreaching comments on the domestic politics of a U.S. Democratic ally.