U.S. president Joe Biden speaks about rebuilding communities and creating well-paying jobs during a visit to Milwaukee, Wis., U.S., March 13, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

President Joe Biden told reporters on Friday that Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer's (D., N.Y.) call for Israelis to vote out Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came in "a good speech."

"Sen. Schumer contacted my staff, my senior staff, he was gonna make that speech. I'm not going to elaborate on the speech," Biden told reporters in the Oval Office. "He made a good speech, and I think he expressed a serious concern shared not only by him, but by many Americans."

Schumer in the Thursday speech on the Senate floor said Netanyahu was "stuck in the past" and that he allied with "radical right-wing Israelis," even saying that he should not remain in power.

"I believe a new election is the only way to allow for a healthy and open decision-making process about the future of Israel," Schumer said.

Several Republicans blasted Schumer for his remarks. Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) said his call for new elections was "inappropriate and offensive."

"Israel is a close ally and a healthy, vibrant democracy. The last thing Israel needs is the 'foreign election interference' that Democrats so often decry here," Cotton said in a statement.

Even the more centrist American Jewish Committee admonished Schumer for his call.

"American Jewish Committee appreciates U.S. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer’s continual and passionate defense of Israel and the Jewish people, but we do not believe it is appropriate for U.S. officials to try to dictate the electoral future of any ally," the committee said in a statement. "Israel is a sovereign democracy in the midst of a war of self-defense against a terrorist organization bent on massacring Jews and destroying Israel. The Israeli people will decide their own political path."

Prior to his controversial Thursday remarks, Schumer has voiced support for Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. In a November Senate floor speech he chided young people on the political left, who he said were unwittingly pushing anti-Semitism.

"Anti-Semites are taking advantage of the pro-Palestinian movement to espouse hatred and bigotry towards Jewish people," Schumer said. "But rather than call out this dangerous behavior for what it is, we see so many of our friends and fellow citizens, particularly young people who yearn for justice, unknowingly aiding and abetting their cause."

Source link