Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is calling for new elections in Israel, describing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government as an “obstacle to peace” amid his country’s ongoing war in Gaza.
Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in U.S. history, urged Israel to “do better,” citing the estimated tens of thousands of Palestinian civilian casualties caused by the Netanyahu government’s military offensive aimed at neutralizing the terrorist group Hamas.
The New Yorker said Israel “must make some significant course corrections” as the conflict nears the half-year mark, according to excerpts of remarks his office released ahead of his Thursday floor speech on the matter.
“The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after Oct. 7,” Schumer said in floor remarks. “The world has changed — radically — since then, and the Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past.”
