Schumer to Join Invite for Netanyahu Address to US Congress After Calling for Israeli Leader’s Ouster

US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) holds a press conference in the US Capitol in Washington, DC, April 23, 2024. Photo: Annabelle Gordon / CNP/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is set to join House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) in inviting Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to address a joint session of the US Congress less than two months after Schumer called for the Israeli premier’s ouster from office.

“He intends to join the invitation; the timing is being worked out,” a Schumer spokesperson told The Hill.

Johnson reportedly sent Schumer a draft invitation last month but had not received a response.

Schumer’s decision to greenlight Netanyahu’s address came after the lawmaker called for new elections in Israel to replace the prime minister during a March 14 speech on the Senate floor.

Schumer, ​​the highest-ranking Jewish US elected official, accused Netanyahu of aligning himself with “extremists” and condemned his approach to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

“It has become clear to me the Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after Oct. 7,” Schumer said, noting the date when Hamas terrorists invaded the Jewish state from Gaza and started the conflict.

In response, Netanyahu called Schumer’s remarks “totally inappropriate.”

“It’s inappropriate to go to a sister democracy and try to replace the elected leadership there. That’s something the Israeli public does on its own,” Netanyahu said on CNN.

Schumer’s decision to support the invitation to Netanyahu sparked a wave of backlash from progressive politicians and activists.

Former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner condemned the invitation in a post on X/Twitter, writing, “Netanyahu should not be welcomed to Congress. How shameful.”

Matt Stoller, a progressive political pundit and writer, called Schumer’s decision “incoherent.”

“You can’t give a major address on Netanyahu and then immediately backtrack,” Stoller said on X.

Cenk Uygur, founder of the left-wing media outlet The Young Turks, similarly denounced Schumer’s decision.

“After pretending to be tough on him, Schumer is now inviting Netanyahu to speak to Congress,” the commentator posted on social media. “After he’s slaughtered 25,000 women and children, our politicians give him $17 billion, pass laws making it illegal to criticize his government, and invite him to lecture us. Disgusting.”

In the months following Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel — in which the Palestinian terror group killed 1,200 people and kidnapped 253 others as hostages — Democratic politicians have grown increasingly critical of the Israeli military response in Gaza, the Palestinian enclave ruled by Hamas.

In February, a group of Democratic lawmakers from 12 states sent a letter to US President Joe Biden calling for a “ceasefire” in Gaza. The following month, several Senate Democrats penned a letter demanding that Biden stop US military assistance to Israel.

A growing number of prominent Democrats have also made recent statements calling to condition Washington’s military aid to Israel and even suggesting the Jewish state is committing genocide.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said in April that there was “ample evidence” that Israel was committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza. Weeks later, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) called on Netanyahu to “resign.” She also signed onto a recent letter from several House Democrats urging the Biden administration to halt further arms transfers to the Jewish state.

Polling suggests that the Democratic Party’s voter base has started to sour on Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Sixty-three percent of Democrats believe that Israel has “gone too far” in its military campaign following the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7, according to an AP-NORC poll from January. Meanwhile, 49 percent of Democrats believe that Israel is committing a “genocide” in Gaza, according to an Economist/YouGov poll.

Amid the mounting pressure from his own party, Biden has threatened to pull back US support for Israel, citing the humanitarian situation in Gaza, where Hamas terrorists embed themselves within the civilian population and use civilian sites — such as hospitals — to house their command and operation centers.

Corey Walker is a journalist based in Washington, DC.

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