As international pressure for a ceasefire in Gaza rises, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has railed against top ally the United States for the recent critique of his leadership, describing calls for a new election as “wholly inappropriate.”
“We’re not a banana republic,” he told Fox News. “The people of Israel will choose when they will have elections and who they’ll elect, and it’s not something that will be foisted on us.”
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a strong Israel supporter, recently called on the country to hold a new election, saying Netanyahu has “lost his way.”
Schumer said the prime minister has put himself in a coalition of far-right extremists, and “as a result, he has been too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows.
U.S. President Joe Biden expressed support for Schumer’s “good speech.” Earlier, he accused Netanyahu of hurting Israel because of Gaza’s huge death toll — which has surpassed 31,000, according to local health officials.
But Netanyahu denounced Schumer’s comments in an interview with Fox News, saying Israel would never have called for a new U.S. election following the 9/11 attacks.
Earlier Sunday, Netanyahu said calls for an election now — which polls show he would lose badly — would force Israel to stop fighting and paralyze the country for six months.
When asked by CNN whether he would commit to a new election after the war ends, Netanyahu said, “I think that’s something for the Israeli public to decide.”
Israel faces ceasefire pressure
Despite blocking several United Nations resolutions for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the U.S. supports a new round of talks aimed at securing a ceasefire in exchange for the return of Israeli hostages taken in an attack led by militant group Hamas on Oct. 7.
On Friday, Israel said it would send a delegation to Qatar for more talks with mediators after Hamas presented a new proposal for a ceasefire, with an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.
Rights groups say Israel is “disappearing” Gaza Palestinians — detaining them without charge or trial and not disclosing to family or lawyers where they’re held. Israel’s prison service says professionally trained prison guards fully apply all “basic rights required.”
Netanyahu’s office said on Thursday that a new Gaza truce proposal presented by Hamas to mediators was still based on “unrealistic demands.” The Israeli delegation to those talks isn’t expected to leave for Qatar until after Sunday evening meetings of the security cabinet and war cabinet, which will give directions for the negotiations.
Despite the talks, Netanyahu made it clear he has no plan to back down from the fighting that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, forced survivors into unlivable, cramped conditions in Rafah and elicited accusations of genocide.
Israel claims its offensive into the Gaza Strip is justified due to the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war. About 1,200 people were killed during the Hamas-led attack on Israel, and another 240 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli figures.
Netanyahu also reiterated his determination to attack Hamas in Rafah, in southern Gaza, and said that his government approved military plans for such an operation.
“We will operate in Rafah. This will take several weeks, and it will happen,” he said.
Dr. Bilal Al-Shafi’i, who works in Rafah in southern Gaza, says children are arriving at hospital ‘like a corpse’ as they face severe dehydration and malnutrition. Warning: This video contains scenes of malnourished children.
The U.S., which has provided key military and diplomatic support to Israel, has expressed concerns about a planned Israeli assault on Rafah, where about 1.4 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering out of a population of 2.3 million. John Kirby, a spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council, told Fox News that the U.S. still hasn’t seen an Israeli plan for Rafah.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi also reiterated his warning that an Israeli ground offensive in Rafah would have “grave repercussions on the whole region.” Egypt says pushing Palestinians into the Sinai Peninsula would jeopardize its peace treaty with Israel, a cornerstone of regional stability for nearly a half-century.
“We are also very concerned about the risks a full-scale offensive in Rafah would have on the vulnerable civilian population. This needs to be avoided at all costs,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after meeting with el-Sisi.
And German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, after meeting with Netanyahu on Sunday, also warned that “the more desperate the situation of people in Gaza becomes, the more this begs the question: No matter how important the goal, can it justify such terribly high costs, or are there other ways to achieve your goal?”
Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli consul-general in New York and an outspoken critic of Netanyahu, said the prime minister’s comments fit with his efforts to find someone else to blame should Israel not achieve its goal of destroying Hamas.
“He’s looking on purpose for a conflict with the U.S. so that he can blame Biden,” Pinkas said.
Both sides have something to gain politically from the dispute. The Biden administration is under increasing pressure from progressive Democrats and Arab American supporters to restrain Israel’s war against Hamas. Netanyahu, meanwhile, wants to show his nationalist base that he can withstand global pressure, even from Israel’s closest ally.
But pressure also comes from home, with thousands protesting again in Tel Aviv on Saturday night against Netanyahu’s government and calling for a new election and a deal for the release of hostages.
