House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) blasted Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) criticism of Israel as “very inappropriate” and “embarrassing" on Sunday.
Schumer called last week for Israel to hold new elections, saying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “lost his way.” His comments were met with criticism from Republicans, where many of them suggested Schumer was trying to meddle in Israel’s elections.
“But you don't talk about toppling a government in a democracy. That's — you know, I was with Ambassador Herzog from Israel at our retreat when this news came in, and it was very inappropriate. I think it was embarrassing,” McCaul said on “Fox News Sunday.”
“You know, there's a way to talk about your differences, not to topple a government in a democratic country. And I think, Shannon, it's indicative of how the split in the Democratic Party between the base, which is not in the traditional Israeli alliance anymore. And I think what you're seeing is a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel faction in the Democratic Party,” he told host Shannon Bream.
Schumer also said Netanyahu was in a coalition with “far-right extremists” and has been “too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows.”
He also responded to the backlash on X, formerly Twitter, last week.
“The U.S. cannot dictate the outcome of an election. That is for the Israeli public to decide,” he wrote. “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.”
Netanyahu also described Schumer’s comments as “totally inappropriate” Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“It’s inappropriate to go to a sister democracy and try to replace the elected leadership there. That’s something the Israeli public does on its own,” he said.
“We’re not a banana republic,” he continued. “I think the only government that we should be working on to bring down now is the terrorist tyranny in Gaza.”
The Hill has reached out to Schumer’s office for comment.
