Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson protested Thursday the suggestion that the Israeli government must go.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government “obstacles to peace” in a speech on the Senate floor today. Schumer added that elections should take place in Israel that would hopefully bring in what he sees as a pro-peace government. (RELATED: ‘Why Can’t You Do It?’: Mike Johnson Details Conversation With Biden Over Executive Action To Shut Down Border)
Republican leadership fired back at these proposals. “It is highly inappropriate and simply wrong for Senator Schumer to be calling for new elections in Israel. We need to stand strong with Israel, but the White House and Senate Democrats are seemingly standing with and supporting Iran and its proxies instead,” Speaker Johnson tweeted alongside a video of him denouncing the speech.
It is highly inappropriate and simply wrong for Senator Schumer to be calling for new elections in Israel.
We need to stand strong with Israel, but the White House and Senate Democrats are seemingly standing with and supporting Iran and its proxies instead. pic.twitter.com/5NGJifz0GO
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) March 14, 2024
“The primary “obstacles to peace” in Israel’s region are genocidal terrorists and corrupt PA [Palestinian Authority] leaders who repeatedly reject peace deals. Foreign observers who cannot keep this straight ought to refrain from interfering in the democracy of a sovereign ally,” Sen. McConnell tweeted.
The primary “obstacles to peace” in Israel’s region are genocidal terrorists and corrupt PA leaders who repeatedly reject peace deals. Foreign observers who cannot keep this straight ought to refrain from interfering in the democracy of a sovereign ally.
— Leader McConnell (@LeaderMcConnell) March 14, 2024
The State Department also issued a statement distancing itself from Sen. Schumer’s remarks. “Congress is an independent branch of government,” Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesman, said, according to The Jerusalem Post. “I think the Government of Israel understands quite well how the US government works. They interact frequently not just with members of the executive branch but with members of Congress, including Senator Schumer, who has traveled to Israel several times over the years. I’m sure they fully understand that he speaks for himself.”
Schumer’s speech elicited a mixed reaction within Israel itself. Yair Lapid, head of the major opposition party, tweeted in Hebrew that the speech itself was evidence that the government was losing the confidence of even the friends of Israel and claimed Netanyahu was “doing it on purpose.”
נאומו של הסנטור צ’אק שומר הוא הוכחה לכך שאחד אחרי השני מאבד נתניהו את גדולי התומכים של ישראל בארה”ב. מה שיותר גרוע – הוא עושה את זה בכוונה.
נתניהו גורם נזק כבד למאמץ הלאומי לנצח במלחמה ולשמור על ביטחון ישראל.
— יאיר לפיד – Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) March 14, 2024
War cabinet minister Benny Gantz, once a member of the opposition until his party joined the government after Oct. 7, said the call for new elections by Schumer was “a mistake” in a post in Hebrew on Twitter.
ארה״ב וישראל חולקות ערכים ואינטרסים משותפים, ואזרחי ישראל והנהגתה מוקירים תודה גדולה על התייצבותה של ארה״ב לצד מדינת ישראל ברגעיה הקשים והמורכבים.
מנהיג הרוב הדמוקרטי בסנאט צ׳אק שומר הוא ידיד ישראל, שמסייע לה רבות גם בימים אלו, אך הוא שגה בהתבטאותו. ישראל היא דמוקרטיה חזקה, ורק…— בני גנץ – Benny Gantz (@gantzbe) March 14, 2024
“Israel is a strong democracy, and only its citizens will determine its leadership and future. Any external intervention in the matter is incorrect and unacceptable,” Gantz tweeted.
The Likud, Netanyahu’s party, issued a statement stating that Israel was “not a banana republic” and that Netanyahu’s policies had the approval of the Israeli public, according to The Times of Israel.