I’m old enough to remember when Democrats expressed outrage over foreign countries allegedly trying to interfere with U.S. elections. But like everything else, foreign election interference is okay if they do it.
On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called on Israel to hold new elections because he believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “lost his way.”
Sounding more like a pro-Palestinian protester than the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the United States, Schumer has become increasingly critical of Israel’s efforts to eradicate Hamas and will condemn Netanyahu in a speech on the Senate floor Thursday.
In prepared remarks obtained by The Associated Press, Schumer says the prime minister has put himself in a coalition of far-right extremists and “as a result, he has been too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows.”
“Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah,” Schumer will say.
The speech comes as an increasing number of Democrats have pushed back against Israel and as President Joe Biden has stepped up public pressure on Netanyahu’s government, warning that he needs to pay more attention to the civilian death toll in Gaza. The U.S. this month began airdrops of badly needed humanitarian aid and announced it will establish a temporary pier to get more assistance into Gaza via sea.
This move comes despite his Jewish roots and his past public support of Israel in the wake of the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas. In November, Schumer admitted that the rise in antisemitism in America after October 7 was coming from the political left.
“Many of the people who have expressed these sentiments in America aren’t neo-Nazis, or card-carrying Klan members, or Islamist extremists,” he said. “They are in many cases people that most liberal Jewish Americans felt previously were their ideological fellow travelers.”
According to Schumer, the “Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past.”
Despite his past support for Israel in the war, Schumer has become committed to the idea that a two-state solution is somehow viable, and Netanyahu opposes a two-state solution.
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.”
It is unclear how Schumer’s unusually direct call will be received in Israel. The next parliamentary elections are expected in 2026 but could be held before then.
Many Israelis hold Netanyahu responsible for failing to stop the Oct. 7 cross-border raid by Hamas, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and his popularity appears to have taken a hit as a result.
U.S. priorities in the region have increasingly been hampered by Netanyahu’s Cabinet, which is dominated by ultranationalists. The far-right Cabinet members share Netanyahu’s opposition to Palestinian statehood and other aims that successive U.S. administrations have seen as essential to resolving Palestinian-Israeli conflicts long-term.
Make no mistake about it; Democrats are caving to the pro-Hamas wing of their party.