There is a basic law in physics that every action has an opposite and equal reaction. I don’t think that Senator Chuck Schumer was a standout in physics. His critique of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu created a firestorm that’s still going strong. I don’t think he anticipated the degree and level of the reaction.
Israel is in the midst of a war for its very existence. October 7 was not just another day in the life of a country in a bad neighborhood; it was Pearl Harbor and 9/11 in spades. On November 14, 2023, Senator Schumer said in front of 600,000 people, “Let us not forget history.” He pointed out that Israel was almost destroyed in 1967 and 1973. “We cannot, we must not let that happen again.” “When Hamas says ‘from the river to the sea,’ they mean that all of present-day Israel should be a Jew-free land.” “We in America have your back. America feels your pain. We ache with you.”
Five months into the war that Senator Schumer felt was fully justified, he reversed course and decided on March 14 to tell the world, “I also believe Prime Minister Netanyahu has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel.”
Why a person like Senator Schumer would one day say “We in America have your back” and on another day call for the replacement of the Democratically-elected leader of Israel in the middle of a war where soldiers are fighting and risking their lives to prevent October 7 from ever happening again is beyond the pale. Senator Schumer crossed every red line by not only interfering with a sovereign nation’s legitimate democratic rights, but made the heart sink of every fellow Jew fighting on the frontlines against an evil and cruel enemy. This was not the time to make political statements for political reasons, as Israel is in the middle of a war for its very survival.
The criticism of Senator Schumer’s inappropriate and uncalled-for comments came swiftly and spot-on from all corners. Senator Mitch McConnell, the minority leader, said that it was “grotesque and hypocritical” for Americans “who hyperventilate about foreign interference in our own democracy to call for the removal of the democratically elected leader of Israel.” “The Democratic Party doesn’t have an anti-Bibi problem. It has an anti-Israel problem.”
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said, “We want to speak very clearly and concisely to say that this is not only highly inappropriate, it is just plain wrong for an American leader to play such a divisive role in Israeli politics while our closest ally in the region is in an existential battle for its very survival.” “We have to stand with and support them right now. But what you’re seeing from the White House and clearly the Senate Democrats, is really the opposite.”
Even Benny Gantz retorted, “Israel is a strong Democracy and only its citizens will determine its leadership and future. Any external intervention in the matter is incorrect and unacceptable.”
The reaction to Senator’s Schumer’s remarks, I am sure, must have surprised him. It fired up all of Israel’s supporters worldwide in an unprecedented way, just as his remarks were unprecedented. There was certainly an equal and opposite reaction. But the most important reaction will be the Israeli people re-electing their longest-tenured Prime Minister ever. Prime Minister Netanyahu does better when he is being attacked. Senator Schumer just kicked off Prime Minister Netanyahu’s campaign, and I think guaranteed him his re-election.
Joseph M. Frager is a physician and lifelong activist.
