You would be hard-pressed to find any member of Congress who has a longer, deeper track record of supporting Israel than Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader.
Schumer, who has been in Washington for more than 40 years, has always been a cheerleader — or even rubberstamp — for the Israeli government. When President Barack Obama brokered the Iran nuclear deal, Schumer was one of a number of hawkish Democrats to oppose it, breaking with the leader of his own party. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who along with most Israelis reviles Iran, blasted Obama and was all too happy to see some Democrats, like Schumer, join with Republicans in opposing the nuclear agreement.
Schumer is Jewish; his old political base is the heavily Jewish neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Israel, for him, has been sacrosanct, and any criticism of its government has been rare, if nonexistent.
That all changed last week when Schumer took to the Senate floor to give an extraordinary speech. “The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after Oct. 7,” Schumer said. “The world has changed — radically — since then, and the Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past.”
Schumer said the Benjamin Netanyahu government was an “obstacle to peace” and called for new elections in Israel. He criticized the long-serving conservative prime minister for the large number of civilian deaths in Gaza since Hamas first attacked Israel and killed more than 1,200 civilians on Oct. 7, triggering a war that has claimed more than 30,000 Palestinian lives.
Netanyahu, who has had a tense relationship with both Barack Obama and Joe Biden, has angered the Biden administration with his decision to approve an invasion of the Gaza city of Rafah. Democrats in Congress who have been largely supportive of Israel are now voicing concern as more than 2 million Palestinians struggle for access to food, water and medicine. Gaza has largely been leveled while Hamas remains in power.
Schumer’s public break with Netanyahu is a sea-change — evidence of how much the Israeli government’s actions have alienated international actors, including leaders in the U.S. For now, Republicans are sticking with Netanyahu, along with a few Democratic hawks like John Fetterman, the Pennsylvania senator, and Bronx congressman Ritchie Torres.
It would be easy to say Schumer is afraid of a primary or trying to pander to various progressive activists who have been protesting ceaselessly for a permanent ceasefire since October. But Schumer does not support this kind of ceasefire nor their other demands, like conditioning military aid to Israel. He is very much a Zionist, unlike far-left activists in the Democratic Socialists of America and Jewish Voice for Peace.
And he doesn’t need to pander, necessarily, because he just won re-election in 2022. His next primary wouldn’t be until 2028, four long years away. What the world looks like then or what issues will be on the table is anyone’s guess.
Schumer, however, is aware of where his party is, the risks for Biden in November, and the reality that, regardless of Hamas’ terrorism, a human rights catastrophe has unfolded in Gaza. Netanyahu himself is no longer popular in Israel. He won’t have to face voters for several years but would likely lose an election were it held today.
Schumer, throughout his career, has often represented the median of the Democratic Party. He is a canny legislative leader, a politician who has evolved on a host of issues; he tracks public opinion closely, and that’s how he’s managed a half-century in politics.
Biden listens to Schumer. The president won’t call for Netanyahu to go, but it’s likely Biden’s private sentiment. He’d prefer a different negotiating partner.
For Netanyahu, however, a very different calculus is at play. He knows that Trump would be far more supportive of his military ambitions, and he’s likely hoping to drag out the war long enough to see who gets elected in November. If Biden hasn’t reined in Netanyahu, he’s at least a threat to do so at some point. Trump is not. Trump’s return to the White House would be everything the Israeli prime minister ever dreamed of.
Ross Barkan is a journalist and author in New York City.
Ross Barkan , 2024-03-19 14:03:03
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