Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was roasted in a Wall Street Journal op-ed this week; the editorial board is calling Schumer foolish for wading into Israeli politics and suggesting new leadership is needed to replace PM Benjamin Netanyahu.
From WSJ:
[P]recisely because Israel is a democracy, accountability for Mr. Netanyahu is baked in. The Prime Minister at this moment represents a broad consensus in Israeli society that the country can’t afford to allow Hamas to continue its violent and corrupt control of Gaza after the horrors unleashed on Oct. 7.
Mr. Schumer knows all this and said as much in his speech on the Senate floor. He blamed Hamas for the atrocities of Oct. 7, and he noted that the terror group has “knowingly invited an immense civilian toll during this war” by using Gazans as human shields. The Senator also allowed that Israel “is surrounded by vicious enemies.”
So what does the Democrat from New York want? He hopes a different Israeli Prime Minister would advance a two-state solution of the sort Mr. Netanyahu has resisted. This reflects the political neurosis developing among Democrats, who wish some deus ex machina would allow Israel to “win” the war against Hamas in a way that would minimize the anger of the anti-Israel left in the U.S.
This is foolish on the merits, and Mr. Schumer’s intervention may backfire in Israel, where it was roundly denounced Thursday as unwelcome interference. It’s not obvious any Israeli politician would rush after Oct. 7 to negotiate with the Palestinians over a state unless or until Hamas is defeated in Gaza—at a minimum. The idea that Israel is the obstacle to Middle East peace, rather than the Iranian regime sponsoring terror proxies across the region, is so naive it’s more suited to a faculty lounge than the Senate floor.
Full op-ed at The Wall Street Journal:
The idea that Israel is the obstacle to Middle East peace, rather than the Iranian regime sponsoring terror proxies across the region, is so naive it’s more suited to a faculty lounge than the Senate floor.https://t.co/I3VJXfBnwg
— Wall Street Journal Opinion (@WSJopinion) March 15, 2024
