WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Israel to hold new elections, saying Thursday he believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has "lost his way" and is an obstacle to peace in the region amid a growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Schumer, the first Jewish majority leader in the Senate and the highest-ranking Jewish official in the U.S., strongly criticized Netanyahu in a 40-minute speech on the Senate floor. Schumer said the prime minister has 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."
"Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah," Schumer, D-N.Y., said.
The high-level warning comes as an increasing number of Democrats push back against Israel and as President Joe Biden steps up public rhetoric on Netanyahu's government, arguing that he needs to pay more attention to the civilian death toll in Gaza amid the Israeli bombardment.
The Biden administration imposed sanctions Thursday on three extremist Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank who are accused of harassing and attacking Palestinians to pressure them to leave their land.
Schumer so far positioned himself as a strong ally of the Israeli government, visiting the country just days after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas and giving a lengthy speech on the Senate floor in December decrying "brazen and widespread antisemitism the likes of which we haven't seen in generations in this country, if ever."
But he said on the Senate floor Thursday that the "Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past."
Schumer says Netanyahu, who has long opposed Palestinian statehood, is one of several obstacles in the way of the two-state solution pushed by the United States. Netanyahu "has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel," Schumer said.
The majority leader also blamed right-wing Israelis, Hamas and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Until they are all removed from the equation, Schumer said, "there will never be peace in Israel and Gaza and the West Bank."
The United States cannot dictate the outcome of an election in Israel, Schumer said, but "a new election 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."
At the White House, national security spokesman John Kirby declined to weigh in on Schumer's call for new elections, saying the White House is most focused on getting a temporary cease-fire in place.
"We know Leader Schumer feels strongly about this and we'll certainly let him speak to it and to his comments," Kirby said. "We're going to stay focused on making sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself while doing everything that they can to avoid civilian casualties."
The speech drew a swift reprisal from Republicans. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-K.y, said on the Senate floor immediately after Schumer's remarks that "Israel deserves an ally that acts like one" and that foreign observers "ought to refrain from weighing in."
The Democratic Party has an anti-Israel problem, McConnell said. "Either we respect their decisions or we disrespect their democracy," he said.
And at a House GOP retreat in West Virginia, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., called Schumer's speech "inappropriate."
"It's just plain wrong for an American leader to play such a divisive role in Israeli politics while our closest ally in the region is in an existential battle for its very survival," the Republican speaker said.
Netanyahu has long had a more cozy relationship with Republicans in the United States, most notably speaking at a joint session of Congress in 2015 at the invitation of GOP lawmakers to try to torpedo former President Barack Obama's nuclear negotiations with Iran.
The move infuriated Obama administration officials, who saw it as an end run around Obama's presidential authority and unacceptably deep interference in U.S. politics and foreign policy.
This week, Netanyahu was invited to speak to Republican senators at a party retreat, but Israeli ambassador Michael Herzog took his place due to last minute scheduling issues, according to a person familiar with the closed-door meeting.
Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii, who is Jewish, praised Schumer's remarks.
"This is a gutsy, historic speech from Leader Schumer," he posted on social media. "I know he didn't arrive at this conclusion casually or painlessly."
It is unclear how Schumer's unusually direct call will be received in Israel, where the next parliamentary elections are scheduled for October 2026. Many Israelis hold Netanyahu responsible for failing to stop the Oct. 7 cross-border raid by Hamas, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and his popularity appears to have taken a hit as a result.
Protesters in Israel calling for early elections say Netanyahu is making decisions based on keeping his right-wing coalition intact rather than Israel's interests at a time of war. They say he is endangering Israel's strategic alliance with the United States by rejecting U.S. proposals for a post-war vision for Gaza in order to appease the far-right members of his government.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, poses for a picture Feb. 15, 2017, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Capitol Hill in Washington.