In his now-infamous speech from the Senate floor, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer referred to himself in his Diasporic Hebrew as “Shomer Yisroel—a guardian of the People of Israel.”
Schumer has done a lot for Israel on important issues, such as voting against the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which proved to be a stunning failure. But at this critical juncture, Schumer proved unwilling to withstand tremendous pressure from the Biden administration and an increasingly vocal and violent wing of the Democratic Party.
Indeed, far from guarding Israel, Schumer’s demands would lead to a massive breach in the Israeli wall. Put aside the fact that calling for the ouster of a democratically elected government is not a friendly act; it dismisses the will of the Israeli people and treats Israel not as the national homeland of the Jews but as an American vassal state.
More importantly, toppling the Netanyahu government and going to elections in the middle of a war would give Israel’s enemies a victory they did not earn.
Terror kingpins like Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar are keen observers of Israeli politics and society. They use this knowledge in their attempts to divide Israel in service of their genocidal ambitions. Israelis understand this and that is why, despite the current government’s falling popularity, there is no significant support for immediate elections.
Schumer’s demands dismiss the will of the Israeli people and treat Israel not as the national homeland of the Jews but as an American vassal state.
What the overwhelming majority of Israelis want is the total defeat of Hamas. Holding elections now would undermine this atmosphere of unity. Elections are by their nature divisive and a renewed clash of politicians and parties would almost certainly put the war on hold and allow Hamas to regroup and rearm. The same holds true for Hezbollah and Israel’s other enemies.
There is a good reason that Hamas is desperate for the West to save it. Three-quarters of its battalions have been destroyed. More than half the Gaza Strip has been conquered. Hamas has nowhere to hide except Rafah. In other words, Hamas is on the ropes. A telling sign of this is that the demands it has made in return for a temporary ceasefire and the return of hostages are softening by the day. It knows that time is not on its side and it needs to buy as much time as possible by exploiting those it brutally kidnapped on Oct. 7.
Schumer’s demands would not just buy time for Hamas, however, but hand it to them on a silver platter. They would deprive the Jewish state of total victory. That is not how a guardian acts. A guardian would demand that his president and fellow senators fully support an Israel victory militarily, diplomatically and politically. Israel cannot afford another half-victory, because anything short of total victory is actually a defeat. Israel’s enemies know this and Israel’s allies should know it too.
Schumer must know that while most Israelis might not support Netanyahu personally, they support his current military and diplomatic policies. This is shown out in poll after poll. So, why did he make his speech at all?
The reason is that Schumer, as the highest-ranking Jewish official in American history, has allowed his identity and record to be appropriated for narrow political gains.
Schumer, as the highest-ranking Jewish official in American history, has allowed his identity and record to be appropriated for narrow political gains.
The majority of Americans are highly supportive of Israel in its war against Hamas, but on the far-left of the Democratic Party, hatred of the Jewish state has become an absolute requirement. These haters have already given Biden a bloody nose in the primaries. Thus, he is desperate to placate them. Schumer is the perfect patsy for this attempt to appease the unappeasable.
Few Israelis will be moved by Schumer’s demands, but Israel’s enemies have heard a major American politician publicly assert that the democratically elected government of Israel must be toppled and that its leader is a greater obstacle to peace than the genocidal terrorists of Hamas, Fatah, Hezbollah and the ayatollah in Tehran.
Schumer should reconsider his position and put his role as a guardian of Israel, a person who seeks a total Israel victory, over petty political maneuvers.
