Netanyahu to address US Republican senators, after Democrat Schumer’s critical speech

File - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset on March 13, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
File - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset on March 13, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address US Republican senators via video linkup to their weekly policy lunch, a source familiar with the plan says, days after the Senate’s Democratic leader gave a speech harshly criticizing him as an obstacle to peace.

The plan underscores the politicization of Washington’s Israel policy, in which the Israeli leader has been aligned with Republicans.

In his speech last week, Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer, long a supporter of Israel and the highest-ranking Jewish US elected official, told the Senate that Netanyahu’s government “no longer fits the needs of Israel” five months into a war that began with a shock attack on Israel by Hamas on Oct. 7. Schumer urged new elections.

Republicans in turn harshly criticized Schumer.

Netanyahu told CNN on Sunday that Schumer’s speech was inappropriate.

Netanyahu’s plan to address the weekly Republican policy lunch was first reported by the political news outlet Punchbowl.

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