Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said comments from U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in his speech last week calling for elections in Israel were "totally inappropriate," in an interview with U.S.-based news outlet CNN on Sunday, part of a series of interviews he held with foreign news outlets.
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"I think what he said is totally inappropriate. It’s inappropriate to go to a sister democracy and try to replace the elected leadership there. That’s something the Israeli public does on its own. We are not a banana republic. Instead, we should focus efforts on bringing down the Hamas tyranny." he said.
Netanyahu insisted - despite his consistent decline in polls since October 7, about which he was asked in the interview - that "the majority of Israelis support our government and policies that we’re leading."
CNN’s interviewer presented Netanyahu with survey data from Israeli television channels indicating broad support for "elections after the war," after which Netanyahu refused to answer whether he’d allow them to take place. "That’s something for the Israeli public to decide," he said.
He compared himself, not for the first time, to American leaders who continued to serve following disasters during their tenure. "After the events of September 11, Israelis didn’t call on President Bush to resign, they don't do that. You don't do that to a friendly country, to an ally," he said.
Netanyahu addressed Schumer's remarks, which received backing from U.S. President Joe Biden, in another interview with Fox News. "It’s not something that will be forced upon us," he argued. “My personal considerations aren’t for my own survival but for the survival of the Jewish state." He added: "I don't know why Senator Schumer made those statements."
Former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, said following Netanyahu's interview with CNN: "It’s curious to me to see Netanyahu talk the way he does when he tried to interfere in American elections."
"Schumer loves Israel, and the fact that he made this statement should be listened to. Israel's reputation is at risk because of what's happening in Gaza. Hamas should be defeated, but what happens next?" Pelosi also said.
During the interview, Netanyahu was shown a segment in which former U.S. President Donald Trump, who is also running in the upcoming presidential elections in November, claimed Biden wants to see Netanyahu ousted. "I hope I won't have to leave," Netanyahu said and also praised Trump for his support of Israel during his tenure.
In his interviews, Netanyahu touched on the issue of the hostages in Gaza, and said Israel will continue to try and agree on a hostage release deal. "Time will tell, but Hamas’ outlandish demands make that deal a lot more difficult, but we’re going to keep on trying, because we want those hostages back,” he told CNN.
On Fox News, he added: "The only thing that gets Hamas to release the hostages is continued military pressure. The same time [sic], there has to be pressure from Qatar that wields enormous influence on Hamas, and they should be pressed to press them. There are still four Hamas battalions left in Rafah."
Netanyahu reiterated, against the backdrop of his approval for a military operation in Rafah, that Israel will enter the Palestinian city when the time comes. "When people tell us ‘don’t go into Rafah,’ that’s like telling the Allies 'don't enter Berlin.' If we leave a quarter of Hamas’ terrorist battalions in place, they will repeat the October 7 massacre over and over again,” he said.