The U.S. State Department is scrambling to cobble together a response for the Biden administration after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) brazenly attempted to interfere in our ally Israel's democracy by calling for new elections to replace Netanyahu's government. Expecting to get their diplomatic cake and eat it too, Foggy Bottom denied coordinating with Schumer on his speech but did admit advance knowledge of the stunt.
In what his office called a "major address" from the Senate floor on Thursday, Schumer said the United States government "should demand that Israel conduct itself with a future two-state solution in mind" without offering a suggestion for which terrorist group in the region — all of which have rejected Israel's existence and do not entertain the idea of co-existing with the Jewish state — Israel ought to allow to create a Palestinian state.
"Five months into this conflict, it is clear that Israelis need to take stock of the situation and ask, must we change course?" Schumer continued in his Senate floor screed this week. "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," he said, quite dramatically seeking to interfere in a foreign election.
Later on Thursday, State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller flatly denied in a press briefing that Schumer's rant would make the Biden administration's interactions with Israel's government more difficult and rejected the idea that the executive branch had coordinated with Schumer to issue his screed. Miller did, however, say that the administration was "given a heads-up" before the majority leader's speech.
"I think the Government of Israel understands quite well how the U.S. Government works," Miller offered. "They interact frequently not just with members of the Executive Branch but with members of Congress, including Senator Schumer, who has traveled to Israel a number of times over the years," he reminded. "And I’m sure they fully understand that he speaks for himself," Miller insisted. "He’s obviously someone we’re in close contact with, but it’s not a statement from the Executive Branch," he said of Schumer's call for Netanyahu's government to be dismantled in new elections.
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Reporters in Miller's briefing, however, didn't let that assertion go unchecked and reminded the spokesman that there have in fact been "members of the Executive Branch who have said roughly similar if not exactly the same thing over the course of the last several months," making it look as though Schumer said out loud what the Biden administration has been pushing more quietly about Israel and Netanyahu's government.
Again, Miller denied: "No, that is not the case," he insisted. "Those are – these are statements made by Senator Schumer, not by the Biden administration."
When pressed again on the issue and asked whether there was "frustration" in the Biden administration with Netanuahu's government, Miller caved — a little.
"Look, there are – there are a number of things that we want to see Israel do differently; we’ve made that quite clear," he said acknowledging that the Biden administration and Schumer are not terribly opposed in their views on Israel."
But when asked whether the Biden administration has a position on Netanyahu's tenure, Miller refused to say either way whether the State Department believes new elections should be held as Schumer said should happen.
"We do not have a position on that," Miller said. "Who leads the Government of Israel is a matter for the Israeli public to decide, just as it is a matter for the residents of any country to decide with respect to the leadership of their country," he continued. "We deal with the elected prime minister — we will always deal with the elected leadership of Israel," reiterated Miller. "That will always be our policy."
