Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and majority leader, delivered a forceful speech on the Senate floor on Thursday in which he condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling him a major obstacle to peace in the Middle East and calling for new leadership in Israel five months into the war .
Many Democratic lawmakers have condemned Netanyahu’s leadership and his right-wing ruling coalition, and President Biden has even criticized the Israeli military’s offensive in Gaza as “overreaching.” But Schumer’s speech was the harshest ever criticism from a senior American elected official, effectively calling on Israelis to replace Netanyahu.
“I believe in his heart. His top priority is the security of Israel,” said Mr. Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the United States. “However, I also believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu has lost his way by allowing his political survival to trump Israel’s best interests.”
He added: “He has been too willing to tolerate civilian deaths in Gaza, which is reducing support for Israel around the world to historically low levels. Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah.”
Mr. Schumer’s speech was the latest reflection of growing dissatisfaction among Democrats, especially progressives, with Israel’s conduct of the war and its toll on Palestinian civilians, creating a strategic and political dilemma for Mr. Biden. Republicans tried to capitalize on that dynamic, squeezing Netanyahu tighter as Democrats rejected him.
In response to Mr. Schumer’s remarks, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, said on the Senate floor that it was “grotesque and hypocritical” that Americans “who hyperventilate about foreign interference in our democracy are calling for the removal of a democratically elected leader Israel.” He called the move “unprecedented.”
“The Democratic Party has no problem with anti-Bibi,” McConnell said, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname. “He has an anti-Israel problem.”
Schumer’s remarks came a day after Senate Republicans invited Netanyahu to speak as a special guest at a party retreat in Washington. Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the third Republican, asked Netanyahu to address Republicans virtually, but he was unable to appear due to a last-minute scheduling conflict. Ambassador Michael Herzog, Israel’s envoy to the United States, spoke on his behalf.
On Thursday, Mr. Schumer, who represents a state that is home to more than 20 percent of the country’s Jewish population, was careful to say he was not trying to dictate any election outcome in Israel. He preceded his sharp criticism of Netanyahu with a lengthy defense of the country that, he said, American Jews “love in their bones.”
Schumer said there was a “misperception” of the war that placed too much blame on Israel for civilian deaths in Gaza, without focusing enough on how Hamas uses Palestinian civilians as human shields. He also acknowledged how difficult it was for traumatized Israelis today to consider the possibility of a two-state solution.
However, he did not spare criticism of Netanyahu, calling the prime minister one of the main obstacles to achieving peace in the Middle East, along with Hamas, “radical right-wing Israelis” and Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, who he also believed should be replaced.
“Netanyahu’s coalition no longer meets Israel’s needs after October 7,” Schumer said. “The world has changed since then – radically – and the nation of Israel is now stifled by a vision of governance that is stuck in the past.”
Schumer said the only solution to the decades-long conflict is a two-state solution: “a demilitarized Palestinian state living alongside Israel in equal conditions of peace, security, prosperity and dignity.” He said Netanyahu, who rejected the idea of Palestinian statehood, was endangering Israel’s future.
“At this critical moment, I believe that new elections are the only way to enable healthy and open decision-making about Israel’s future, at a time when so many Israelis have lost faith in the vision and direction of their governments,” Schumer said, adding that he believed the majority of Israeli society “recognizes the need for change.”
“As a democracy, Israel has the right to choose its own leaders and we should let the chips fall where they may,” he said. “But what is important is that Israelis have a choice. After October 7, a new debate on the future of Israel is necessary.”
Mr. Schumer’s speech was his second appearance since Oct. 7 on the Senate floor to address the Israel-Hamas war. The conflict made him think more deeply and speak more openly about his Jewish faith and heritage, as well as the moral and political dilemmas the war posed for Jews in Israel and the United States.
In November, Mr. Schumer delivered a deeply personal speech in which he condemned the rise of anti-Semitism in America, which has escalated since Israel began retaliating against Hamas for its Oct. 7 terrorist attack on defenseless Israeli civilians. These remarks seemed to be directed mainly at members of his own party; warned that some liberals and young people are “unwittingly supporting” anti-Semitism in the name of social justice. Schumer has since talked to publishers about writing a book about anti-Semitism.
His speech on Thursday was aimed directly at Netanyahu and far-right members of his ruling coalition, who Schumer says are not guided by Jewish values.
Mr. Herzog’s response was harsh. “Israel is a sovereign democracy,” he wrote on social media. “It is not useful to comment on the internal political scene of a democratic ally, especially since Israel is at war with the genocidal terrorist organization Hamas.”
In his remarks, Schumer said Netanyahu refused “to disavow Ministers Smotrich and Ben-Gvir and their calls for Israelis to expel Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank.”
“He will not engage in a military operation in Rafah whose priority will be the protection of civilian lives,” Schumer said. “He will not responsibly engage in discussions about the morning after plan for Gaza and the long-term path to peace.”
Schumer said that if Netanyahu and his current coalition remain in power, “then the United States will have no choice but to play a more active role in shaping Israeli policy, using our leverage to change the current course.”
Underscoring how controversial the issue of Israel is in American politics, Schumer’s speech was criticized by both the right and the left.
Layla Elabed, campaign manager for Listen to Michigan, an anti-war activist group that voted “non-aligned” in the state’s Democratic presidential primary, said that “Senator Schumer is starting to change, but far too slowly and without the specific actions he can take.” make Biden make the decision now to stop the outrageous civilian death toll in Gaza.”
Nicholas Fandos reporting contributed.
