Chicago – March 14, 2024
Chuck Schumer, the top senator in the United States Senate, has issued his most scathing condemnation of Israel since the conflict in Gaza began, asking for a leadership shake-up in the country.
In a speech from the US Senate floor on Thursday, Schumer, a Jewish-American Democrat, took direct aim at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, claiming the Israeli leader has been “too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza”.
Schumer urged Israel to organize elections to replace Netanyahu, claiming that the prime minister had “lost his way” in his pursuit of “political survival”.
“As a democracy, Israel has the right to choose its own leaders, and we should let the chips fall where they may,” Schumer said. “But the important thing is that Israelis are given a choice.”
Schumer, the Senate majority leader, did not provide a date for any future vote.
Since the war began, more than 31,341 Palestinians have been murdered in Gaza, many of them are children. The rising death toll has sparked widespread outrage and raised fears of genocide in the area.
Schumer’s statements, as well as Biden’s increasingly loud criticisms, have signaled a shift in the Democratic leadership’s stance to Israel, as public pressure to seek a permanent ceasefire grows.
