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The move comes after former President Donald Trump, a potential Republican presidential nominee, said in an interview published this week that American Jews who vote for Democrats “hate” their religion. This is Prime Minister Netanyahu’s comment on the Democratic Party’s growing criticism of the Gaza war. Democrats and some Republicans expressed disgust at Trump’s comments, saying they were based on anti-Semitic tropes.
Netanyahu criticized Schumer on Wednesday as he updated Senate Republicans on the state of the war, but reassured him that several members strongly disagree with Schumer’s criticism.
“You know, we’re trying to teach them how to wage war,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said of Netanyahu’s reaction to Schumer’s remarks. “They didn’t try to teach us how to fight World War II or Iraq or Afghanistan.” The end of World War II occurred three years before the founding of Israel.
Schumer turned down Netanyahu’s request at a private Senate Democratic lunch the same day, and his party-specific presentation gave the impression that supporting a close U.S. ally was a matter of politics, not policy. He said he thought so.
“I care deeply about Israel and its long-term future,” Schumer told reporters. “Making the issue partisan hurts the cause of helping Israel.”
Until now, state leaders have typically addressed all senators at once, such as when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy addressed them by video from a secure room in the parliament building in December. .
But in this unusual scenario, Netanyahu was virtually present at the luncheon, normally a forum for political strategy and venting of internal grievances, but Senate staff and security guards kept reporters away. It appeared that journalists were not allowed to hear the video speech or any aspect of the speech. conversation.
“I think it’s unfortunate that Republicans are trying to use this as a political wedge issue,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who has not joined Schumer’s call for re-election. Ta. There are several Jews in the Senate, but all of them caucus with Democrats, and there are no Jews in the Republican Senate.
In remarks that included a question-and-answer session, Netanyahu acknowledged he was speaking to a “friendly audience,” given that Democrats are against it and Republicans are “100 percent” in support. said Tuberville. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida) said the prime minister intends to carry out Israel’s plan to eliminate the remaining battalion of Hamas fighters — which Israeli officials say is overcrowded. It is said to be located in the city of Rafah.
Biden warned Netanyahu not to launch a ground invasion of Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza where many of the Gaza Strip’s 2 million residents have fled and where Netanyahu says Hamas fighters remain. I asked. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s involvement in the operation has raised concerns that the death toll in the Gaza Strip, which is already approaching 32,000, could rise dramatically.
A senator who was present spoke on condition of anonymity, saying that Prime Minister Netanyahu, who was asked by senators to directly respond to Schumer’s comments, said the response was inappropriate and undiplomatic. He said that he would call it “outrageous.” Discuss private conversations.
Israel’s war in Gaza, in response to the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, has struck some serious fault lines within the Democratic Party, as liberals have wrestled with human rights issues against the backdrop of one of America’s staunchest allies. exposed. Despite providing weapons and diplomatic support to the war, Biden has done too little to prevent civilian casualties and that aid groups have paralyzed the humanitarian response, resulting in mass starvation and starvation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been criticized for imposing a blockade on Gaza, which he claims is inciting the protests. The administration also condemned Netanyahu’s opposition to Washington’s long-standing idea of a “two-state solution” that would involve an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Biden is facing growing pressure from factions of the Democratic base that oppose the war and are calling on his administration to cut off U.S. military aid to Israel, the largest recipient for decades. . Democrats in key battleground states have filed protest votes in recent primaries over what they see as the president’s deference to Israel, warning they could lose votes if the president doesn’t change his course by November. .
Still, Biden and the overwhelming majority of Democrats support sending billions of dollars in additional military funding to Israel. The aid is being held up in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives over Republican opposition to funding for Ukraine., Part of the same package approved by the Senate.
Republican lawmakers, who have blamed domestic political pressure for their party’s waning interest in funding the Ukraine war, blamed Democrats. This week, when it comes to Israel, the focus will be on voters, not America’s national security interests.
“I’ve heard the joke that Democrats are pursuing a two-state solution, and those two states are Michigan and Nevada,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) mentioned two keys. In the upcoming election. “Domestic politics have increased the Democratic Party’s desire to destroy our friend and ally, Israel.”
Rep. Max L. Miller (R-Ohio), one of the two House Republicans who is Jewish, said Democratic rhetoric is causing an “influx” of Jewish voters into the Republican Party. “That’s what Jewish voters think,” Miller said. “They see President Trump as siding with Israel.”
Republicans see an opening in the divisions within the Democratic Party.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Wednesday that he had a “long conversation” with Netanyahu, in which Netanyahu reiterated House Republicans’ support for Israel and called Schumer’s comments “dangerous.” He said that.
And President Trump accused Jews who vote for Democrats of betraying their own people.
“All Jews who vote for Democrats hate their religion,” President Trump said in a podcast interview aired Monday. “They hate everything about Israel. They should be ashamed, because Israel will be destroyed.”
Schumer, the country’s top Jewish official, criticized President Trump’s language in remarks on the Senate floor this week as anti-Semitic and used the metaphor that Jewish Americans have “dual” loyalties. He said it would help.
“They see Israel as a political wedge rather than a country and a homeland,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said of Republican efforts to rally behind Israel. Trump is an “anti-Semite” and his recent comments have become “a megaphone for one of the oldest anti-Semitic tropes in American politics.”
“We are allowed to argue with each other about Israel,” said Schatz, who is Jewish. “We are allowed to grapple with what it means to be Jewish. We can assess whether we are Jewish as individuals or in a collective sense. Donald Trump is not allowed to participate in that conversation.”
In a speech that drew fierce backlash from Israeli officials and some American Jewish groups last week, Schumer said that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s handling of the war had “drifted support for Israel to historic lows around the world.” ” he said.
The comments, made by one of the most powerful supporters of Israel’s Democratic Party in Congress, reflect widespread resentment against Israel’s right-wing prime minister. Some Democrats have argued that Netanyahu is more interested in staying in power than what is best for Israel, and Schumer said last week that Israel “cannot survive if it becomes a pariah.” Stated. Netanyahu, who faces Israel’s worst approval ratings after the Oct. 7 attacks, has long been a thorn in the side of Democratic presidents and former President Barack Obama, who spoke to Congress in 2015 opposing the Iran deal. enraged.
On Wednesday, 18 Senate Democrats, including battleground states Sens. Tammy Baldwin (Wisconsin) and Sherrod Brown (Ohio), sent a letter to Mr. Biden proposing a “roadmap” toward recognition of a Palestinian state. They requested that it be set publicly. Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), who led the letter, believes the president supports the push “in his heart,” and the letter tells Biden that Democrats “support” him. He said that he intended to show that.
“This crisis has reached a tipping point,” they wrote. “Now more than ever, your leadership is needed.”
Biden has sought to distance himself from Netanyahu in recent weeks as the White House grows frustrated with Netanyahu’s repeated rejection of U.S. requests.
On Monday, Biden met with Prime Minister Netanyahu for the first time in about a month. The White House was unusually candid about the call, with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan telling reporters after the call that Mr. Biden spoke about Israel’s plans to launch a major military operation in Rafah. He said he had convened a senior Israeli military, intelligence and humanitarian team to Washington for consultations. Sullivan said Biden told Netanyahu that any effort to “break” the southern city of Gaza would be a mistake.
Sullivan said the time has come for Israel and the United States to “really iron out” their differences over the Gaza war.
More than 1 million Palestinians have taken refuge in Rafah on Israeli orders, and the White House has made clear for weeks that it does not support a major Israeli invasion of Rafah. This is the first time in the six-month war that the White House has publicly opposed Israeli military operations.
Further angering the Biden administration and many Democrats is the dire situation in the Gaza Strip, particularly in the north, where aid groups are warning that famine is imminent. Children in northern Gaza are starting to die of hunger and malnutrition, according to the United Nations, and the United States has repeatedly pressed Israel to surge aid to Gaza to alleviate the rapidly worsening humanitarian devastation. It’s here.
Mariana Alfaro and Marianna Sotomayor contributed to this report.
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