Netanyahu Hits Back at Schumer’s ‘Totally Inappropriate’ Demand for New Israeli Elections

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is telling Senator Schumer to stay out of his country’s domestic affairs after the Senate majority leader called for new elections in the Jewish state. Mr. Netanyahu says it is “totally inappropriate” for Mr. Schumer to make such demands. “I think what he said is totally inappropriate,” Mr. Netanyahu said in an interview with CNN on Sunday. “It’s inappropriate to go to a sister democracy and try to replace the elected leadership there. That’s something that the Israeli public does on its own. We’re not a banana republic.”Mr. Netanyahu says Mr. Schumer — the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in American history — should be more worried about the elected leadership of Gaza rather than the make-up of the Israeli coalition government. “I think the only government that we should be working to bring down now is the terrorist tyranny in Gaza — the Hamas tyranny — that murdered over a thousand Israelis, including some dozens of Americans and is holding Americans and Israelis hostage. That’s what we should be focused on.”Mr. Netanyahu also points out that his policies, including launching a military operation at Rafah and opposing a two-state solution, are the policies of the Israeli people — not just of the prime minister’s government. “The majority of Israelis support our government. Eighty-two percent of Americans support Israel instead of Hamas. The majority of Israelis support the policies … go into Rafah, destroy the remaining Hamas terrorist battalions, make sure that we don’t put into Gaza — instead of Hamas — the Palestinian authority that educates their children toward terrorism and the annihilation of Israel,” Mr. Netanyahu said. In an historic speech on the Senate floor on Thursday, Mr. Schumer said that “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.” “The Netanyahu coalition no longer serves the needs of the Israeli people after October 7th,” Mr. Schumer said. He equated Mr. Netanyahu and “far-right” Israelis to Hamas, saying that both groups are to blame for stifling a lasting peace process. Mr. Netayahu says that this “is a wake up call to Senator Schumer. The majority of Israelis support the policies of my government. It’s not a fringe government. It represents the policies supported by the majority of the people. “If Senator Schumer opposes these policies, he’s not opposing me, he’s opposing the people of Israel,” the premier says. Mr. Schumer and many in the Biden administration have made it clear that they would prefer to work with another member of the Knesset — former defense minister and alternate prime minister Benny Gantz, who now serves as a member of Mr. Netayahu’s wartime government. During a visit to Washington earlier this month, Mr. Gantz received little support from Mr. Netanyahu before and after meeting with Biden administration officials and Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill. According to recent polling from Maariv and Channel 14 in Israel, a plurality of Israelis would like to see Mr. Gantz serve as prime minister rather than Mr. Netanyahu.

Netanyahu Hits Back at Schumer’s ‘Totally Inappropriate’ Demand for New Israeli Elections

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