Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell ramped up his scathing criticism of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in the aftermath of the New York Democrat’s stunning call for a new leadership in Israel amid the brutal war in Gaza, underscoring the growing partisan divide over Israel – a rare issue that had long unified the two parties.
In an interview with CNN, McConnell said Schumer’s speech was a direct contradiction of US policy and called on the White House not to go down that road.
“You can’t spend years hyperventilating about foreign interference in our democracy and then turn around and tell allies, particularly democratic allies, who their leader should be and when they should have elections,” McConnell said. “It’s just completely at variance with the way we typically operate in a foreign country, which is to deal with whatever government has been chosen in a democracy.”
For a long time, Schumer has aligned himself with Benjamin Netanyahu, but broke with him Thursday on the Senate floor as he characterized the Israeli prime minister as an obstacle for peace.
“As a lifelong supporter of Israel, it has become clear to me: 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,” Schumer said.
Asked if Schumer being the first Jewish Senate majority leader in US history – who has been outspoken on Israel for years – gives him the right to call for a change in leadership there, McConnell pushed back.
“Just because he’s Jewish doesn’t give him a pass to advocate something that’s completely inconsistent with our past approach to democratic countries,” McConnell said about Schumer, whose…
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