On Thursday Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of placing his own political survival over the interests of his country, and called for new elections in a passionate speech on the Senate floor, according to CNN.
"As a lifelong supporter of Israel, it has become clear to me: The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after October 7."
The world has changed, radically, since then, and the Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past," said Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in America.
Schumer, the first Jewish Senate majority leader, also condemned the Hamas strike on southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Senate GOP Minority Leader Mitch McConnell rebutted Schumer's call for Netanyahu's ouster when giving his remarks from the Senate floor.
"Israel is not a colony of America whose leaders serve at the pleasure of the party in power in Washington. Only Israel's citizens should have a say in who runs their government."
"It is grotesque and hypocritical for Americans who hyperventilate about foreign interference in our own democracy to call for the removal of a democratically elected leader of Israel," McConnell added. "This is unprecedented. We should not treat fellow democracies this way at all."
In his speech, Schumer stated his belief that "a majority of the Israeli public will recognize the need for change, and I believe that holding a new election once the war starts to wind down would give Israelis an opportunity to express their vision for the post-war future."
