(NewsWorthy.news) – Following a speech from Congress that criticized Israeli leadership, officials from the Jewish state are lashing back.
On Thursday March 14, New York Democrat Charles Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader, gave a speech that bluntly scolded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called for elections to delegate new leadership in Israel. The comments came amid tension between the Jewish state, which has been at war with Hamas in Gaza since October 2023, and its longtime ally of the United States, which has been pushing for a cease-fire.
Netanyahu subsequently said the remarks made by the American senator—a major supporter of Israel and the United States’ highest-ranking Jewish official—were “totally inappropriate.”
During the controversial speech that attracted backlash from Israelis and Republican American leaders alike, Schumer said Netanyahu had “lost his way,” preventing the region from reaching peace agreements. But Israeli officials were quick to verbally strike back.
Netanyahu’s political party, Likud, defended the nation’s “independent” standing as a “proud democracy” which had put the prime minister in office. The group warned Schumer about attempting to “undermine” that elected leadership. Similarly, Michael Herzog—Israel’s ambassador to the United States—described the Senate Majority Leader’s comments as “counterproductive” and “unhelpful,” adding that it did not work to make progress towards “common goals.”
Even Netanyahu’s political rival Benny Gantz, who is currently serving on the nation’s war cabinet, stated that Schumer had “erred in his remarks” against the prime minister despite Gantz’s resolve that the Senator is a “friend of Israel.” Israeli media officials also called Schumer’s speech a “watershed” moment and an “earthquake.”
The speech was also criticized by Republican lawmakers, including the GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell who called it “hypocritical” for the United States to resist “interference” in its democracy but “call for the removal” of another elected leader. House Speaker Mike Johnson also said that Schumer’s demand was “inappropriate.”
Copyright 2024, NewsWorthy.news
