Top Democrat Schumer calls for new Israel election

US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has called for new elections in Israel, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of prioritising his “political survival” above the country.

Mr Schumer, a Democrat and the highest-ranking Jewish official in the US, said Mr Netanyahu had “lost his way”.

He warned huge civilian casualties in Gaza risked alienating allies and turning Israel into a global “pariah”.

It is a sharp escalation in US criticism of Mr Netanyahu’s government.

US officials, including President Joe Biden, have broadly avoided directly criticising Mr Netanyahu’s approach to the conflict. However, cracks have begun to emerge in the coalition in recent weeks, with the president warning Israel against expanding its invasion into the city of Rafah, which he called a “red line”.

Speaking in the Senate on Wednesday, Mr Schumer, a long-time supporter of Israel, harshly criticised the Israeli leader who he said had come to allow “his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel”.

Israel, Mr Schumer said, must make “course corrections” and take steps to better protect civilians in Gaza.

More than 30,000 Palestinians have now been killed in Gaza since 7 October, the Hamas-run health ministry said last month. That number equates to about 1.3% of the 2.3 million population of the territory.

The actual number of dead is likely to be far higher as the count does not include those who have not reached hospitals, among them thousands of people still lost under the rubble of buildings hit by Israeli air strikes.

“As a democracy, Israel has the right to choose its own leaders, and we should let the chips fall where they may,” Mr Schumer said. “But the important thing is that Israelis are given a choice. There needs to be a fresh debate about the future of Israel.”

“In my opinion, that is best accomplished by holding an election,” he added.

For peace talks to advance, Mr Schumer said Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas must also step down. The Palestinian leader, who is 87, has been little seen throughout the conflict and his government has not held elections in the West Bank since 2006.

Mr Schumer’s comments prompted a rebuke from outgoing Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, who called the 40-minute speech “grotesque” and “unprecedented”.

He said it was “hypocritical for Americans who hyperventilate about foreign interference in our own democracy to call for the removal of a democratically elected leader of Israel”.

Israel’s ambassador in Washington, Michael Herzog, also attacked the remarks, writing on X that it was “unhelpful” and “counterproductive” to comment on “the domestic political scene of a democratic ally”.

While the US remains Israel’s closest ally and biggest provider of military aid, concerns have been mounting within the Biden administration at its prosecution of the war in Gaza. In his State of the Union address, Mr Biden called Israel’s response in the territory “over the top”.

The president has also become more and more vocal in calling for Israel to let much more humanitarian aid into the territory, with “no excuses”.

But, in a sign of the deepening rift between the two men, Mr Netanyahu hit back at Mr Biden, telling that his government and policies had the support of the Israeli people.

Mr Biden recently accused Mr Netanyahu of “hurting Israel more than helping Israel”, which led Mr Netanyahu to describe that assertion as “wrong”.

The extent of the Israeli public’s support for the war is unclear, but an opinion poll released in January suggested that just 15% of voters wanted Mr Netanyahu to remain in office once the conflict ends.