The White House did have advance warning of what Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was going to say about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a highly critical speech Thursday, but the administration did not block him from saying it.
In the latest sign of growing discord between Washington, D.C. and Jerusalem, Schumer called for Israel to hold elections to replace Netanyahu, whom he described as one of several “major obstacles” to achieving lasting peace between Israel and Palestine. His comments—which provoked immediate condemnation from Netanyahu’s allies—came just days after the Israeli leader was reportedly left “fuming” by a U.S. intelligence report that forecasted widespread protests inside Israel calling for his resignation.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that Schumer “did give our team advance notice” of what he was going to say. “This wasn’t about approval or disapproval or editing in any way,” Kirby insisted. “But it was—but he did give us a heads-up that he was going to do it.”
President Joe Biden has been at loggerheads with Netanyahu in recent days about a possible invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza, a matter the president says he considers a red line. Netanyahu has repeatedly publicly vowed to go ahead with the invasion despite the U.S. warnings.
