By: Chris Mitchell – CBN News; cbn.com
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.