BITTER BIBI ‘RAGE’ AT SCHUMER
Blasts call for elex
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Senate Republicans on Wednesday that Chuck Schumer’s demand for new elections in the Jewish state is “wholly inappropriate” and even “outrageous.”
Netanyahu, 73, made the remarks during a video conference with Senate Republicans after the Senate majority leader declined the Israeli prime minister’s re- quest for an opportunity to address Senate Democrats as well.
“He said that he thought Schumer’s remarks were wholly inappropriate,” Sen.
Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told reporters, ac- cording to Politico. “And then he said, ‘You know, if you want me to be more frank, I thought they were outrageous.’
“And he said, ‘Israel would never, never purport to tell the United States how to run our elections, who to elect.’ ”
Last week, Schumer (D-NY), who is Jewish, called for a “new election” in Israel to replace Netanyahu (inset) once the country’s war against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip “starts to wind down.”
He went on to denounce Netanyahu and “radical” members of his security Cabinet as an “obstacle” to peace.
“When you make the issues partisan, you hurt the cause of Israel,” Schumer told reporters when asked about why he opted against giving Netanyahu an audience with Democratic members of the upper chamber.
Schumer on Wednesday continued to defend his speech.
“I gave this speech out of a real love for Israel,” he said during a press conference. “If you read the speech, we called only for there to be an election after the hostilities have declined.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters that he “made it clear” to Netanyahu during the meeting that “it’s not the business of the United States to be giving a democratic ally advice about when to have an election or what kind of military campaign they may be conducting.”
Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), the ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, noted that Netanyahu was “sensitive” to civilian casualties in Gaza and aware of the need to get more humanitarian aid to get into the war zone.
“He’s very sensitive to the fact that every civilian casualty is a very unfortunate event,” Risch said, adding that Netanyahu was “very supportive” of the US military effort to build a temporary pier that would allow aid to flow in from the Mediterranean Sea.
More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel invaded Gaza following Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack on the Jewish state, according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, which does not distinguish between civilian and terrorist deaths. That figure is in dispute (see article, left).
Hamas terrorists killed more than 1,200 people, including 33 US citizens, and took hundreds captive on Oct. 7. It is believed that at least 130 people remain in captivity in Gaza, including five Americans.