Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

House Democratic leader opts not to echo Schumer’s call for new Israeli elections

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries said he’s focused on the war in Gaza and the push for more humanitarian aid

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries declined to endorse Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s recent call for Israeli elections to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“I’m going to personally refrain from commenting on whatever may or may not take place in Israel in terms of the current government or the new government,” Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, said in an interview on FOX 11 Los Angeles on Friday. “I have got full faith and confidence in the Israeli people to make the right determination about what their future should look like. I think it’s going to be important for our two countries to continue to lean into the special relationships that we have — shared democratic values, shared strategic interests.” 

Schumer, in a 45-minute Senate floor speech on Thursday, said that Netanyahu’s policies and approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict no longer serve the interests of Israel and its citizens. “At this critical juncture, I believe a new election is the only way to allow for a healthy and open decision-making process about the future of Israel,” Schumer said. President Joe Biden called it a “good speech.”

Several American Jewish groups, including the American Jewish Committee and Democratic Majority for Israel, pushed back on Schumer’s remarks, saying they disagree with his attempt to dictate the electoral future of any ally. Others questioned the timing as Israel is still engaged in the war against Hamas. NORPAC, a nonpartisan political action committee that supports pro-Israel candidates, urged its members to call and email Schumer’s office and request to “undo the damage” done by the remarks and “retract the call for new elections in Israel.”

In the Friday interview, Jeffries defended Schumer’s pro-Israel credentials. “He’s got the best interests of the U.S. and the best interests of our allies all across the world at heart,” he said. For his part, Jeffries said he’s going to “keep the focus on what needs to happen in the moment,” which he said is: defeating Hamas, securing the release of the remaining hostages and ensuring the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. 

Jeffries added that he backs the Biden administration’s proposal to discuss the establishment of a Palestinian state only on the day after the war. 

The Democratic leader — who represents a predominantly Orthodox and Russian Jewish population in Brooklyn — has forged close relations with Jewish leaders and pro-Israel groups including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Jeffries often calls Jerusalem, Israel’s capital, New York City’s sixth borough.

Netanyahu pushed back against Schumer’s remarks in an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” program,” calling it “inappropriate.”

“I think it’s ridiculous to talk about it,” Netanyahu said. “It’s like after 9/11 — you are in the midst of fighting the war against al Qaeda — and an Israeli would say, ‘You know what we need now is either new elections in the U.S. or if your system doesn’t allow, then President Bush should resign and we should have an alternative leader.’ You don’t do that to a sister democracy, to an ally.”

Editor’s note: This post was updated to include Netanyahu’s comments. 

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.

If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.

Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism. 

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.