The White House appears to distance itself from Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s call for Israeli elections to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“We know Leader Schumer feels strongly about this,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby tells reporters in a briefing, saying the White House will “let him speak to his comments.”
“We’re going to stay focused on making sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself,” Kirby adds.
Kirby said Schumer’s office gave the White House a heads-up ahead of the majority leader’s speech.
U.S. Congress is an independent branch of the government and Schumer’s call for new elections in Israel are his comments and not those of the Biden administration, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller later said.
When asked if there was no frustration in the administration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Miller said: “There are a number of things we wanted to see Israel do differently,” he says.
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