Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized comments from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., calling for Israel to hold new elections when the war in Gaza winds down, saying the senator’s comments were “totally inappropriate,” while refusing to commit to supporting new elections.
On Thursday, Schumer said Netanyahu should call for new elections when the fighting in Gaza winds ... [+]
While being interviewed on CNN Sunday, Netanyahu went after Schumer for calling for new elections in Israel after the fighting dwindles.
Netanyahu said it was inappropriate to “try to replace the elected leadership” of a “sister democracy” and added that selecting leadership was something the Israeli public “does on its own.”
CNN’s Dana Bash repeatedly asked Netanyahu about his polling and popularity in Israel and if he would agree to call for new elections when the fighting winds down, but Netanyahu largely bypassed the questions and said that’s “something for the Israeli people to decide.”
“The majority of Israelis support the policies of my government,” Netanyahu said Sunday. “It’s not a fringe government, it represents the policies supported by the majority of the people. If Senator Schumer opposed these policies, he is not opposing me, he is opposing the people of Israel.”
On Thursday, during a nearly hour-long address on the Senate floor, Schumer called for new elections in Israel saying Netanyahu “lost his way by allowing this political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel.” Schumer accused him of giving into the “interest of far-right extremists,” and said he’s becoming “too willing” to tolerate the more than 30,000 death toll in the Gaza Strip. Schumer argued Israel has a right to statehood and a right to defend itself but said “how it exercises that right matters.”
15%. That’s the percentage of Israelis who want Netanyahu to stay in office after the war ends, an Israel Democracy Institute poll found. Polling since then shows support for a potential opposition coalition, led by Benny Gantz, is growing. Last week, a survey from Channel 12 news found 41% of respondents wanted to see Gantz as prime minister, while 29% wanted to see Netanyahu in charge.