Two current and former ambassadors blasted Thursday's speech delivered by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, with one saying the New York Democrat should be "ashamed" for calling for new elections in Israel to supplant Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his handling of the Gaza war.
David Friedman, U.S. ambassador to Israel under then-President Donald Trump who oversaw the move of the American embassy to Jerusalem in 2017, said he was "disgusted" by Schumer's speech on the Senate floor Thursday.
Current Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Herzog panned Schumer's speech as "unhelpful" and "counterproductive."
Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in the U.S., said Netanyahu has "lost his way" and accused the prime minister of being "too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza." Netanyahu, he went on, "no longer fits the needs of Israel after Oct. 7," when Hamas terrorists slaughtered more than 1,200 Israelis, including women, children, and infants.
"Israel is a sovereign democracy. It is unhelpful, all the more so as Israel is at war against the genocidal terror organization Hamas, to comment on the domestic political scene of a democratic ally. It is counterproductive to our common goals," Herzog posted to X on Thursday.
Friedman, ambassador to Israel from 2017-21, wasn't nearly as diplomatic.
"I am just disgusted by this speech. The democratically elected leader of Israel is leading his nation in the defense of a barbaric foe, deploying a successful strategy that is broadly supported by the people of Israel, and the Senate Majority Leader publicly pushes for regime change in the middle of a war! He should be ashamed. It's all about politics," he said in a post to X.
In a subsequent post, Friedman wrote, "The two-state solution died on October 7, 2023, and was buried by Chuck Schumer on March 14, 2024."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called Schumer's speech "grotesque" and "unprecedented."
"It is grotesque and hypocritical for Americans who hyperventilate about interference in our own democracy to call for the removal of the democratically elected leader of Israel," McConnell said in his own floor rebuttal.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., called Schumer's remarks "highly inappropriate," and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said Schumer should apologize for his "very inappropriate" remarks.
National security communications adviser John Kirby told reporters that Schumer, who he said "feels strongly about this," gave the White House advance notice of his speech. Kirby did not elaborate as to whether President Joe Biden agreed with Schumer.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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