The top Republican in the Senate delivered a sharp retort to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Thursday after the Democrat delivered a speech criticizing Israel amid its fight against Hamas following the group’s deadly terrorist attack in October.
In delivering remarks on the Senate floor, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) took particular issue with Schumer’s call for the U.S. ally to hold a new election while criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership.
Sen. McConnell: "It is grotesque and hypocritical for Americans who hyperventilate about foreign interference in our own democracy to call for the removal of a democratically elected leader of Israel. This is unprecedented. We should not treat fellow democracies this way at all." pic.twitter.com/K6xOd1a9Ey
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“The Jewish state of Israel deserves an ally that acts like one. The people of Israel, at home and in captivity, deserve America’s support. And Israel’s unity government and security cabinet deserve the deference befitting a sovereign, democratic country,” McConnell said in remarks.
Schumer included Netanyahu as one of the “obstacles to peace” during his speech earlier in the day. He also listed Hamas and the Palestinians who “support and tolerate their evil ways,” “radical right-wing Israelis,” and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
In his response, McConnell gave his own perspective on the “obstacles to peace” that have led to a perpetuation of violence in the Middle East.
“The primary ‘obstacles to peace’ in Israel’s region are genocidal terrorists like Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad who slaughter innocent people and corrupt leaders of the Palestinian Authority who have repeatedly rejected peace deals from multiple Israeli governments,” he said.
“And foreign observers who cannot keep these clear distinctions straight ought to refrain from weighing in. It is grotesque and hypocritical for Americans who hyperventilate about foreign interference in our own democracy to call for the removal of the democratically elected leader of Israel,” McConnell said.
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“This is unprecedented. We should not treat fellow democracies this way at all. Things that upset left-wing activists are not a prime minister’s policies – they are Israel’s policies,” he added. “Make no mistake – the Democratic Party doesn’t have an anti-Bibi problem. It has an anti-Israel problem.”
McConnell concluded, “Israel is not a colony of America whose leaders serve at the pleasure of the party in power in Washington. Only Israel’s citizens should have a say in who runs their government. This is the very definition of democracy and sovereignty. Either we respect their decisions, or we disrespect their democracy.”