Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer stood on the floor of the U.S. Senate to demand Israel hold new elections:
The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after October 7. 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.
Netanyahu's coalition can certainly be criticized for its lack of military preparedness and intelligence failures leading up to October 7th. Bibi has also earned the enmity of the hostages' families. But it is not for Senator Schumer to tell Israelis what their needs are. To do so is patronizing and condescending. The only thing which has changed since October 7th is how anti-Semitism is expressed in the open all over the world and is gaining greater public acceptance.
With that said, it is true that Schumer did make critical remarks of both Hamas and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Regarding Hamas, Schumer was equally critical of it as an entity and those who have minimized and outright denied its crimes:
It bothers me deeply that most media outlets covering this war, and many protesters opposing it, have placed the blame for civilian casualties entirely on Israel. All too often, in the media and at protests, it is never noted that Hamas has gone to great lengths to make themselves inseparable from the civilian population of Gaza by using Palestinians as human shields.
Too many news agencies and newspapers give Hamas a pass by hardly ever discussing this shameful practice that is central to their fighting strategy, and this has led to an inaccurate perception of the harsh realities of this war. I believe stories that justifiably mention the loss of innocent Palestinian life should also note how Hamas uses civilians as human shields. It almost never happens. And I believe that every protest that justifiably decries the loss of innocent Palestinian men, women and children, should also denounce Hamas for their central role in the bloodshed.
When protesters decry the loss of Palestinian life, but never condemn this perfidy or the loss of Israeli lives, it confounds and deeply troubles the vast majority of Jewish and non-Jewish Americans alike who support the State of Israel.
Schumer said, "It should go without saying that Hamas cannot have any role in a future Gaza if we are to achieve peace." This is all well and good, but Schumer did not elaborate as to how to dislodge Hamas from power in Gaza. If military action by Israel is not an acceptable means to do so then what is?
As for Abbas, Schumer chastised his lack of leadership and called upon him to step down:
Over the years, President Abbas has evaded the democratic process, declining to hold elections for over a decade and failing to empower future leadership. Despite his long tenure leading the Palestinian Authority, he has achieved few of his self-proclaimed goals. The Palestinian Authority remains corrupt and continues to incite instability through the martyr payment system. Palestinians are no more prosperous, no safer, and no freer than they were when Abbas first took power. As a result, President Abbas has lost the trust of the Palestinian people.
Furthermore, he is a terrible role model and spiritual leader. In the past, he has participated in outright Holocaust denial, attempting to justify Nazis’ actions. This embrace of antisemitism extended to his refusal, for weeks, to condemn the loss of Israeli civilian life on October 7. Should Abbas remain, the Palestinian people can have no assurance that a Palestinian state would be able to ensure their safety or prosperity. Nor can they have any belief that the government would be free of corruption.
For there to be any hope of peace in the future, Abbas must step down and be replaced by a new generation of Palestinian leaders who will work towards attaining peace with a Jewish State. Otherwise, the West Bank will continue to suffer, and Hamas — or some similarly extreme organization — will continue to maintain a foothold in Gaza.
Alas, the devil is in the details. Schumer went on to state, "I believe there is enough strength in the Arab world to get President Abbas to step down, and to support a gradual succession plan for responsible Palestinian leaders to take his place."
A gradual succession plan? It is interesting that Schumer explicitly does not call for elections in the West Bank because he knows damn well that Palestinians in the West Bank approve of what Hamas has done to Israel.
All of which begs more questions. What does this gradual succession plan look like? How gradual is it? Will it take effect when Abbas dies or turns 95 whichever comes first? And who exactly are these "responsible Palestinian leaders" of whom he speaks?
Schumer did make a point of praising former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad claiming he "was clear in his condemnation of violence against Israelis." Fayyad is a classic two-faced politician who would condemn violence against Israelis to the Western press while praising those who carried those attacks in Arabic. Fayyad also played a central role in his capacity as Finance Minister in the administration of the "martyr payment system".
Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Herzog was critical of Schumer's speech. In a post on X, Herzog wrote, “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.”
Let me put it another way. How would Senator Schumer like it if Netanyahu called upon Americans to vote for defeated, former President Trump? I cannot imagine Schumer would be amused at all. But by demanding Israel hold elections, Schumer has opened the door for Bibi to do exactly that. Although Bibi and Trump have been on the outs for several years, I could see Trump traveling to Jerusalem to give support to Bibi while giving a thumb in the eye of both Schumer and President Biden.
But let us say, for argument's sake, that Israel does hold an election. What if Israelis re-elect Bibi? Will Schumer call the election rigged and demand yet another election? Or alternately, Israelis choose either Benny Gantz or former PM Yair Lapid to succeed Netanyahu? What if they see fit to eradicate Hamas? What if the new Israeli government doesn't meet Schumer's expectations? Will he demand yet another vote?
Notwithstanding Senator Schumer's criticisms of Hamas and Abbas, he has put Netanyahu on the same moral plane as them. Whatever Bibi's shortcomings, he does not warrant this treatment. Schumer's open contempt for Netanyahu will bring him sympathy in Israel while creating contempt for the United States in taking its eye off Hamas.
When Chuck Schumer left the Senate floor today, his words did more harm than good.
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