We at the American Friends of Likud vigorously object to the appalling attempt by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) to meddle in Israeli politics. His demand that Israel call for early elections to remove Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from office is presumptuous, arrogant and hypocritical.
Netanyahu is the democratically elected leader of Israel. The Israeli people—and only the Israeli people—have the right to decide who will lead them. Schumer is not a citizen of Israel, does not have children in the Israeli army, does not pay taxes in Israel, and is not exposed to the ongoing threats of rockets launched from the Gaza Strip. He has no standing to interfere in the Israeli political system.
Schumer has regularly expressed outrage when he suspects other governments of interfering in American elections. Why then the double standard when it comes to the right of the Israeli people to select their own leaders?
We note with sadness the senator’s claim that he has been a longtime supporter of Israel. The evidence belies the senator’s pretense. In 2015, when the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear program was before the U.S. Senate, Schumer voted against the dangerous Iran deal only when it was clear that his vote was not necessary to stop the deal from being blocked. He made certain to assure his Democratic colleagues that he would not try to convince others to vote against the JCPOA deal and that his vote against it was purely to avoid upsetting his Jewish constituency.
Netanyahu’s determination to eradicate Hamas and to resist the imposition of a terrorist Palestinian state is supported by a broad consensus among the Israeli people.
Schumer’s problem is not with the prime minister but with the Israeli people. His thinly disguised attack on the Jewish state during its hour of need—when it is in the midst of a war for its very existence—has only one virtue: It rips the mask off his face and reveals him to be a traitor to his people.
