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Post by Webster on Mar 14, 2024 15:39:13 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Schumer calls for new elections in Israel, calls Netanyahu an obstacle to peaceChuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, has called for Israel to hold new elections, arguing that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government “no longer fits the needs of Israel”. Schumer, long a strong supporter of Israel and the highest-ranking Jewish official in the US, strongly criticized the Israeli leader in a 40-minute speech on the Senate floor. Israel must make “significant course corrections” to achieve lasting peace with the Palestinians, he said, adding that it would be a “grave mistake” for Israel to reject a two-state solution. Netanyahu had put himself in a coalition of far-right extremists and “as a result, he has been too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows”, Schumer said. He added: If prime minister Netanyahu’s current coalition remains in power after the war begins to wind down, and continues to pursue dangerous and inflammatory policies that test existing US standards for assistance, then the United States will have no choice but to play a more active role in shaping Israeli policy by using our leverage to change the present course.He added: As a democracy, Israel has the right to choose its own leaders, and we should let the chips fall where they may. But the important thing is that Israelis are given a choice.
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Post by Webster on Mar 14, 2024 15:48:22 GMT -5
(The Guardian) John Cornyn, the Republican senator of Texas, said Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer was “out of line” in his comments calling for Israel to hold new elections. Schumer was “undermining” America’s “closest ally and the only democracy in the Middle East,” Cornyn posted to X. He added: This is a blatant attempt to appease extremists in his party to the detriment of our relationship with Israel.
Despite fierce criticisms from Republican leaders, Chuck Schumer is sticking to his word over his calls for new Israeli elections. In a post on X, Schumer wrote: “At this critical juncture, I believe a new election in Israel 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.”
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Post by Webster on Mar 14, 2024 15:49:01 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Mar 14, 2024 15:50:07 GMT -5
(The Guardian) House Republican conference chair Elise Stefanik has joined a handful of Republican leaders who have criticized Chuck Schumer over his calls for new Israeli elections. In a statement on Thursday, Stefanik said: “Instead of meddling in elections of a sovereign nation, Chuck Schumer should follow House Republicans’ lead in supporting our ally in their darkest hour. The obstacle to peace is … Chuck Schumer … Chuck Schumer does not stand with Israel. House Republicans do.” Since 7 October, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet have faced increasing opposition and condemnation over their handling of the hostage crisis and Israel’s subsequent war on Gaza where its forces have killed more than 30,000 Palestinians while forcibly displacing about 2 million survivors.
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Post by Webster on Mar 14, 2024 15:51:04 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Chuck Schumer is continuing to defend his calls for new Israeli elections, writing in another post on X: “People on all sides are turning away from a two-state solution—including Israel’s PM Netanyahu who has been rejecting Palestinian statehood and sovereignty. As the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in America and a staunch defender of Israel, I say: This is a grave mistake.”
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party has responded to Chuck Schumer’s calls for new elections, saying that Israel is “not a banana republic”. It went on to say, “Contrary to Schumer’s words, the Israeli public supports a total victory over Hamas, rejects any international dictates to establish a Palestinian terrorist state, and opposes the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza.” “Senator Schumer is expected to respect Israel’s elected government and not undermine it. This is always true, and even more so in wartime,” it added.
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Post by Webster on Mar 14, 2024 16:00:58 GMT -5
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Post by Webster on Mar 14, 2024 16:02:14 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Schumer also calls for Mahmoud Abbas to step down as Palestinian Authority presidentIn addition to his calls for new Israeli elections, Chuck Schumer is also calling for Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas to step down. According to Schumer, Abbas must step down for a “new generation of Palestinian leaders who’ll work towards attaining peace with a Jewish state”. “The PA under new leadership must reform to viably serve as the basis for a Palestinian state with the trust of the people,” he added. Schumer has already sparked backlash among Republican leaders and the Israeli government over his calls from earlier today for new elections in Israel.
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Post by Webster on Mar 15, 2024 16:51:20 GMT -5
(The Guardian) Schumer 'made a good speech' about Israel concerns 'shared by many Americans', says BidenJoe Biden has defended Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer over comments he made on Thursday calling on Israel to hold new elections and harshly criticizing its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. “He made a good speech,” Biden said when asked by reporters about Schumer’s remarks on the Senate floor on Thursday. He added: He expressed serious concerns, shared not only by him but by many Americans.Biden added that his staff were notified about the speech in advance by Schumer, who is the highest-ranking Jewish official in the US.
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Post by Webster on Mar 18, 2024 18:28:48 GMT -5
(The Guardian) The rift over the war in Gaza between Israel and the US, its closest ally, broadened over the weekend when prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, of treating his country like a “banana republic”. Netanyahu’s comments to CNN on Sunday came after a speech by Schumer from the floor of the US Senate, in which he publicly broke with Netanyahu over his handling of the war and called for new elections in Israel. Netanyahu suggested that Schumer, who is the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the US, was trying to topple his government and said his call for an election was “totally inappropriate,” adding: That’s something the Israeli public does on its own. We are not a banana republic.
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Post by Webster on Mar 20, 2024 14:59:26 GMT -5
(The Guardian) The rift between the top Senate Democrat, Chuck Schumer, and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, became public suddenly, amid continuing reports of terrible humanitarian conditions in Gaza. Here’s the latest on that, from the Guardian’s Peter Beaumont: The accusation by the UN and other humanitarians that Israel may be committing a war crime by deliberately starving Gaza’s population is likely to significantly increase the prospect of legal culpability for the country, including at the international court of justice.
Amid reports that the Israel Defense Forces are hiring dozens of lawyers to defend against anticipated cases and legal challenges, the charge that Israel has triggered a “man-made famine” by deliberately obstructing the entry of aid into Gaza is backed by an increasing body of evidence.
Already facing a complaint of genocide from South Africa at the ICJ, the UN’s top court – including an allegation that senior Israeli political officials have incited genocide in public statements – Israel is also the subject of a provisional emergency ruling by the court ordering it to admit life-saving aid to Gaza.
Chuck Schumer’s public criticism of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his call for the country to hold elections came after months of deliberations, the Democratic Senate leader revealed to the New York Times this weekend. “I said to myself, ‘This may hurt me politically; this may help me politically.’ I couldn’t look myself in the mirror if I didn’t do it,” Schumer, who represents New York, said in an interview. He added that the point of his speech “was to say you can still love Israel and feel strongly about Israel and totally disagree with Bibi Netanyahu and the policies of Israel”. Schumer noted he spent about two months working on his speech, writing multiple drafts of an address intended to make clear he believed Netanyahu is “the fount of the problems”. The Senate leader has faced considerable criticism for his public break with Netanyahu, most notably from Republicans
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