‘Wholly inappropriate,’ Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu slams US criticism amid Hamas conflict, rejects calls for polls
AP, in recent days, US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in the country and a strong Israel supporter, called on Israel to hold a new election, saying Netanyahu had “lost his way." President Joe Biden expressed support for Schumer’s “good speech," and earlier accused Netanyahu of hurting Israel because of the huge civilian death toll in Gaza. Netanyahu told Fox News that Israel never would have called for a new U.S. election after the Sept.
11 attacks in 2001, and denounced Schumer’s comments as inappropriate. Also Read: Israel prepares for ceasefire talks as UN warns of hunger crisis in Gaza “We’re not a banana republic," he said. “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." 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." The US, which has provided key military and diplomatic support to Israel, also has expressed concerns about a planned Israeli assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where about 1.4 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering.
The spokesman for the National Security Council, John Kirby, told Fox the U.S. still hasn't seen an Israeli plan for Rafah. Also Read: Mint Explainer: Who is Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longtime prime minister? The US supports a new round of talks aimed at securing a cease-fire in exchange for the return of Israeli hostages taken in Hamas' Oct.
7 attack. Netanyahu reiterated his stance of not relenting in the ongoing conflict despite diplomatic discussions. The fighting, which has claimed the lives of over 31,000 Palestinians
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