Still, White House spokesperson John Kirby said on Sunday that Biden believed it was up to Israel to make its own decisions about internal politics.
“We respect the sovereignty of the Israeli people,” Kirby told Fox News Sunday. “The president believes it’s up to the Israeli people and the Israeli government to determine if and when there’s going to be new elections.”
Schumer, in a statement released by his office in response to Netanyahu’s CNN interview, said: “It’s a good thing that a serious discussion has now begun about how to ensure Israel’s future security and prosperity once Hamas has been defeated,”
In Israel, Netanyahu dismissed international pressure on Sunday and said Israel’s military would push into Rafah, the last relatively safe place in the tiny, crowded Gaza enclave after more than five months of war.
Israel’s allies have repeatedly urged Netanyahu not to attack Rafah, where more than a million displaced people from other parts of the devastated enclave have sought shelter, without a plan to protect civilians.
Republican congressman Michael McCaul, who leads the House of Representatives Foreign Relations Committee, criticized Schumer’s Thursday speech on Netanyahu.
Source: CNA
