American Jewish organizations criticized Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer after he denunciated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called for Israel to hold elections.
The American Jewish Committee said that while the Jewish Democratic New York senator was a staunch defender of Israel and the Jewish people, it was inappropriate for a US official to dictate an ally’s electoral future.
“Israel is a sovereign democracy in the midst of a war of self-defense against a terrorist organization bent on massacring Jews and destroying Israel,” the AJC said after Schumer’s speech. “The Israeli people will decide their own political path.”
Without directly naming Schumer, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) said on social media that as an independent democracy, Israel “decides for itself when elections are held and chooses its own leaders” and that the US needed to continue to stand by its ally.
Bnai Brith International said it was troubled by Schumer’s call for elections. “Israel is a democratic state whose citizens choose their own leaders and decide their own fate,” B’nai Brith wrote on X.
Union for Reform Judaism chair Jennifer Brodkey Kaufman and president Rabbi Rick Jacobs said Schumer’s commitment to Israel and peace for both Israelis and Palestinians was unquestioned, but that “while the Netanyahu government has sought to weaken it, Israeli democracy is robust.”
“We believe that only Israelis can decide when it is time for a change of government and a change of leadership,” said Kaufman and Jacobs. We respect Israel’s democratic processes for making such decisions.”
Rabbi Hauer critiques Schumer
Orthodox Union executive vice president Rabbi Moshe Hauer was far more critical of Schumer’s call for elections in Israel, saying it was disappointing in contrast to his past partnership with OU and his response to the October 7 massacre. “While leader Schumer claimed to speak on behalf of a silent majority of Jewish Americans, he did not speak for a great many of us,” said Hauer.
Hauer wrote that while Schumer cast himself as “a guardian of the People of Israel,” he leveled accusations against Israel that would fuel international campaigns against the Jewish state and actions in the streets of New York.Hauer rejected Schumer’s framing of Israeli leaders as the main impediment to peace when the Palestinian leadership was rife with extremism.
Schumer’s call for immediate progress on the two-state solution post-October 7 ignored the reality presented by Palestinian terrorism, according to the rabbi. Agudath Israel of America said it was “saddened” that Schumer’s Senate address “crossed a line” after a long record in support of Israel and the Jewish people.
“We are deeply concerned that the senator directly intervened in the internal affairs of a sovereign foreign nation, a robust democracy, and a staunch American ally by explicitly calling for new Israeli elections and more than intimating what he believes the outcome of those elections should be,” said Agudath Israel.
“He further asserted that if there are no new elections in Israel or if new elections in Israel do not result in an outcome that accords with his preferred policy perspectives, then the United States ‘will have no choice’ but to leverage its aid to Israel in a manner that will exert pressure on Israel to divert its actions from what it deems to be in the nation’s best interests and the elected will of the people. These intrusive assertions by Senator Schumer would be inappropriate, offensive, and counterproductive at any time.”
As with the other American Jewish organizations, the Anti-Defamation League also cited Schumer’s history of support for Israel but said it was “vitally important to respect their right as a sovereign, democratic state, one with a long tradition of fair elections and civic participation.”
J Street president Jeremy Ben-Ami welcomed the speech as “one of the most momentous, heartfelt pro-Israel speeches the Senate has ever seen” and “pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy leadership at its best.”Schumer reflected the opinion of the mainstream silent Jewish American majority, according to a J Street statement. Ben-Ami said it was significant that Schumer listed Netanyahu and settlements as obstacles to peace and that if the Israeli prime minister remained in power, the US should leverage its position to shape Israeli policy.
“While MAGA Republicans and right-wing groups have already started a faux outrage pile-on against Senator Schumer in an effort to shut down further debate, J Street believes our elected officials have the right and the responsibility to stand up for American interests, our shared values and Israel’s own long-term interests,” said Ben-Ami.
Jewish Council for Public Affairs CEO Amy Spitalnick said that those saying that Schumer was outside the pro-Israel or Jewish tent were saying the same to a majority of Jewish Americans.
“Today, Senator Schumer gave voice to the complexity many - most! - Jewish Americans hold,” Spitalnick said. “The only path forward is one that recognizes this complexity - rejecting the false binaries of the conflict and embracing the fundamental humanity and dignity of both the Israeli and Palestinian people. Kol Hakavod to my senator for doing just that.”
Americans for Peace Now president and CEO Hada Susskind said in a Thursday Newsweek opinion article that Schumer made it clear that while Israel has the right to make its own decisions, these actions had consequences that could include the loss of American support.
“There is no American politician more deeply attuned to the Israeli public, more steeped in Israel’s history, or more committed to its future as a Jewish and democratic state than the majority leader,” Susskind wrote.