Schumer Turns on Israel

Senator Schumer likes to say he is Israel’s “shomer,” or guardian. Now he is joining the Biden administration’s pirouette away from our democratic ally, bellowing that Prime Minister Netanyahu is “stuck in the past” and calling for an early election to unseat him. As the Jewish state fights for its life, America seems increasingly eager to punish our Mideast ally and reward a foe, sanctioning Israelis and waving sanctions on the mullahs. An Arab terrorist stabbed a man in southern Israel today. As the first Friday of Ramadan approaches, and as Israel’s enemies call to use the month to increase deadly attacks on Jews, the Department of State imposed sanctions today on two Jewish-owned farms in Judea and Samaria and three Israelis, accusing them of “undermining peace, security, and stability.” Washington is eager to appease the “from the river to the sea” crowds. “Netanyahu’s coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after October 7,” Mr. Schumer said on the Senate floor. It was a direct interference with an ally’s democracy. He echoed Vice President Harris’s call to “not conflate the Israeli government with the Israeli people.” It’s the Islamic Republic in Iran that is the tyranny where leaders and the voters are alienated. Nor does the Israeli leadership pose the kind of Mideast menace it’s accused of. The mullahs are.Mr. Schumer knows this. Highly contested elections are frequent in Israel. The Iranian people just boycotted a sham-election in their country in droves, marking the lowest voting participation in the Islamic Republic’s history. Mr. Schumer didn’t offer the repressed Iranians a gluon of support. Nevertheless, Mr. Schumer wags his fingers at Israel’s unity government, which includes Mr. Netanyahu’s foe Benny Gantz.President Biden’s Democrats keep showering the mullahs with gifts. The Free Beacon reports that the State Department notified Congress Wednesday of its intention to unlock frozen funds of the Iranian government. The waiver gives Tehran access to up to $10 billion that, unlike in the past, is free of enforceable restrictions. The mullahs can use the funds as they like, including sending Hamas to chop the heads off Jewish babies.Our diplomats are once again reported to secretly meet Iranian counterparts. What appeasement do they seek? While the Democrats look to reconcile, Iran is selling missiles and drones to Russia for use in Ukraine. Iranian proxies are regularly attacking American troops in the Mideast. The Houthis are choking Red Sea shipping. Militias threaten Arab allies, including Jordan. Why is it the Israeli government Mr. Schumer seeks to destabilize?Hamas is holding 134 hostages in Gaza, including six Americans, one of whom was declared dead this week. A “wall of fire” of Iranian proxies surrounds Israel, vowing to erase it off the map. So why the sudden appetite to disparage our most reliable Mideast ally? Mr. Schumer was always a partisan Democrat first and a true-blue Israel supporter second. He voted against the Iran deal that Israel opposed only after ensuring the Senate wouldn’t block it.Mr. Biden backed Israel briefly after October 7. Now he prefers the pro-Hamas street thug vote. Mr. Schumer’s remarks irked Israelis of all stripes. “Regardless of our political opinion, we strongly oppose external political intervention in Israel’s internal affairs,” a former premier, Naftali Bennett, a political foe of Bibi, wrote on X. Citizens of Israel “will decide its future and leadership,” added Mr. Gantz, calling external interference “unacceptable.”The anti-Bibi campaign is designed to appeal to Michigan’s Arab voters and liberal Democrats at home. Yet the anti-Bibi campaign is unlikely to satisfy either. Also, a war-time election campaign would break Israel’s unity and encourage enemies to attack, and the heightened Mideast violence will harm Mr. Biden’s reelection prospects. As Mr. Netanyahu defies the appeasement Democrats, his previously dwindling poll numbers are rebounding.

Schumer Turns on Israel

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