WASHINGTON: Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address US Republican senators via video linkup to their weekly policy lunch today, a source familiar with the plan said, days after the Senate’s Democratic leader gave a speech harshly criticising him as an obstacle to peace.
The plan underscored the politicisation 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, a long-time 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 attacks on Israel by Hamas fighters on Oct 7. Schumer urged new elections.
Republicans in turn harshly criticised 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.