Former US Sen. Joe Lieberman on Sunday blasted Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer for calling for an election to replace Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, denouncing the New York Democrat’s remarks as “outrageous.”
“I thought the statement he made this week … was a mistake. I can’t ever remember anything like it,” Lieberman told host John Catsimatidis on the “Cats Roundtable” on WABC 770 AM.
Lieberman, 82, a former Democratic senator from Connecticut who later became an independent before his 2013 retirement, was the first Jewish American to appear on a presidential ticket when then-Vice President Al Gore tapped him as his running mate in 2000.
“For a US senator — let alone the majority leader; let alone the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in Washington — to tell Israel that it’s time to get rid of Netanyahu, that’s outrageous,” Lieberman said of Schumer.
In an extraordinary speech from the Senate floor on Thursday, Schumer (D-NY), 73, called for a “new election” in Israel after the conclusion of the Jewish state’s war with Hamas, which has been raging in Gaza and the West Bank since Oct. 7.
“As a lifelong supporter of Israel, it’s become clear to me that the Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after Oct. 7,” Schumer said, referring to the day of the Palestinian terror group Hamas’ slaughter in Israel, which sparked the war.
Schumer singled out Netanyahu and “radical” members of his security cabinet as an “obstacle” to peace.
His remarks joined a growing chorus of criticism emanating from the Democratic Party’s progressive wing, which blames Israel for not doing more to minimize civilian casualties among Palestinians as it tries to eradicate Hamas.
The top-ranking Senate Democrat’s words drew swift and strong rebukes from Republicans and Israeli leaders alike, including Netanyahu himself, who on Sunday fired back at Schumer for his “totally inappropriate” speech.
“I think what he said is totally inappropriate. It’s inappropriate for him to go to a sister democracy and try to replace the elected leadership there,” Netanyahu said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“That’s something that [the] Israeli public does on its own. We’re not a banana republic.”
Lieberman added, “Can you imagine Sen. Schumer or anybody else in the US government saying to the Brits, ‘We don’t like your prime minister. It’s really time for you to dump him’? Oh my God, there’d be outrage all around.
“It’s a bad precedent for us to tell a friend and ally, a democratic ally, ‘Get rid of this government. We don’t like him,'” the former senator said.
President Biden on Friday praised Schumer, telling reporters he thought the Democrat made a “good speech” during an Oval Office meeting with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.
Biden is facing increased pressure at home over his handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict as presidential election season gets into full swing.
A poll published by the Wall Street Journal last week found that 60% of voters disapprove of how Biden has dealt with the war.
Donald Trump, asked about Schumer’s speech by Fox News “MediaBuzz” host Howard Kurtz on Sunday, blasted the Democratic Party’s record on Israel.
“The Democrats are very bad for Israel,” said the former president, now the presumptive GOP nominee for the 2024 presidential contest. “Israel sticks with them. I guess Israel is loyal, maybe to a fault, because they stick with these guys. Biden is so bad for Israel.”
