JERUSALEM, Israel – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back on comments by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer calling for him to be replaced. Over the weekend, President Joe Biden stood behind Schumer's statements, intensifying the face-off between Israel and the United States.
Netanyahu went on multiple U.S. networks to respond to Schumer and the White House.
“I think (Sen. Chuck) Schumer's statements are wholly inappropriate," Netanyahu stated. "I think we're not a banana republic. The people of Israel will choose when they'll have elections, who they elect, and it's not something that will be foisted upon us that, you know, it's wrong to try to replace the elected leaders of a sister democracy and a staunch American ally at any time, but especially during the time of war.”
On CNN, Netanyahu compared the call for new elections during Israel's war with Hamas to America's war with Al Qaeda.
“It’s like after 9/11 – you’re in the midst of fighting the war against Al-Qaeda, and an Israeli would say, You know, what we need now is either new elections in the U.S., or if your system doesn’t allow it, then President Bush should resign and we should have an alternative leader. You don’t do that to a sister democracy, to an ally.”
Last week, an Israeli poll showed U.S. hostility has actually strengthened Netanyahu and his coalition against his political rivals, with the majority of Israelis supporting his wartime goals.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met with Netanyahu in Israel on Sunday. He said Germany stands with Israel, but like many leaders, he questions Israel's military operation in Rafah.
"The longer the war lasts, the higher the number of civilian casualties rises, the more desperate the situation of the people in Gaza becomes, the more this begs the question: no matter how important the goal, can it justify such terribly high costs, or are there other ways to achieve your goal?”
Israel's Security Cabinet agreed Friday to a plan to enter Rafah. Egypt and the European Union object to that plan, and U.S. National Security Advisor John Kirby says the White House expects assurances of how Israel proposes to take care of Gazans.
“Now the Israelis will tell you we got a plan for that. They call it the humanitarian islands, and we welcome any credible plan to take care of them. But we haven’t seen haven’t seen it yet."
The U.S. and other nations are calling for more humanitarian aid. CBN News witnessed the transfer of that aid by the Israel Defense Forces at the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza.
IDF Spokesperson Col. Elad Goren told us, “(They) just keep saying, more (aid). And it doesn't matter if we will pass 1,000 trucks here, and they won't be able to collect it, they will say that there is a humanitarian crisis. From our understanding, there is no humanitarian crisis. There are challenges. There are obstacles. And the main gap is the capacity of the U.N. Agencies to deliver and to take responsibility over their own operation.”
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