WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the highest-ranking Jewish official in the United States, condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza and called for new elections in Israel once the war winds down.
"Prime Minister Netanyahu has lost his way,” said Schumer. "The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after October 7."
In a speech on the Senate floor, Schumer said Netanyahu and his right-wing government are endangering the state of Israel by refusing to protect civilians in Gaza and by rejecting any peace plan that creates a Palestinian state.
Schumer says the humanitarian crisis in Gaza where an estimated 30,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, “is pushing support for Israel to historic lows."
Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called Schumer’s speech “grotesque” and said the Democratic leaders' remarks undermine Israel’s democracy and threaten its alliance with the U.S.
"Israel is not a colony of America whose leader serves at the pleasure of the party in power in Washington,” said McConnell.
At a retreat in West Virginia, House Republicans including Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) the backlashed continued.
"It is just plain wrong for an American leader to play such a divisive role,” said Johnson.
CAIR the nation's largest Muslim civil rights group calls Schumer’s remarks short sighted.
"The problem is decades long in Israel, it's not just Netanyahu it's the Israeli government," said Robert McCaw, CAIR Government Affairs Department Director.
President Biden has aired his own frustrations over Netanyahu's leadership of the war.
The State Department which is currently working to broker a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas distanced itself from Schumer’s comments.
"These are statements made by Senator Schumer not the Biden administration" said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
