Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, called on Israel Thursday to hold new elections, saying he believes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “lost his way” in the country’s bombardment of Gaza.
Schumer said Netanyahu risks making his country a “pariah” in world affairs.
Schumer, the top Democrat in Congress, said Israel, in its air and ground attack on the narrow territory along the Mediterranean Sea, has been “too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows.”
He said the “Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past.”
“As a democracy, Israel has the right to choose its leaders, and we should let the chips fall where they may,” Schumer said. “But the important thing is that Israelis are given a choice. There needs to be a fresh debate about the future of Israel after October 7.
“In my opinion, that is best accomplished by holding an election,” he said.
Since Hamas killed 1,200 people in Israel in a shock October 7 attack and took about 240 people hostage, Israel’s counteroffensive has killed more than 31,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The conflict has displaced half the enclave’s 2.1 million people and leveled homes and buildings.
