Schumer criticized after calling for new Israel elections as Biden renews sanctions waiver for Iran

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's unprecedented call for new elections in Israel has been met with strong criticism from GOP lawmakers and a former Israeli Ambassador to the United States as the Biden administration renews a waiver of sanctions which could grant the Iranian regime access to about $10 billion in assets.

House Speaker Mike Johnson argued that President Biden, Schumer, and the Democrats seem to be standing with Iran over Israel.

“We saw the remarks from Senator Chuck Schumer calling for new elections in Israel and we want to speak very clearly and concisely to say that this is not only highly inappropriate, it's just plain wrong for an American leader to play such a divisive role in Israeli politics, while our closest ally in the region is in an existential battle for its very survival," Johnson said at the House GOP retreat in West Virginia on Thursday.

“We need to be standing with Israel, and we need to give our friends and allies our full support. We have to stand with and support them right now but what you're seeing from the White House and clearly from the Senate Democrats is really exactly the opposite. They seem to be standing with and supporting Iran and its proxies instead," he added.

In a Senate floor speech, Schumer said a "new election" in Israel is "the only way to allow for a healthy and open decision-making process about the future of Israel, at a time when so many Israelis have lost their confidence in the vision and direction of their government."

Schumer also said he thinks a "majority of the Israeli public will recognize the need for change" in the leadership of their government. "I believe that holding a new election once the war starts to wind down would give Israelis an opportunity to express their vision for the post-war future. Of course, the United States cannot dictate the outcome of an election, nor should we try. That is for the Israeli public to decide — a public that I believe understands better than anybody that Israel cannot hope to succeed as a pariah opposed by the rest of the world," he said on Thursday.

"As a democracy, Israel has the right to choose its own leaders, and we should let the chips fall where they may. But the important thing is that Israelis are given a choice. There needs to be a fresh debate about the future of Israel after October 7. In my opinion, that is best accomplished by holding an election," Schumer added.

Johnson argued that Schumer's position on Israeli elections is an "extension of the Democrats' foreign policy that has projected weakness on the world stage and undermined our allies around the world."

"The most important election, in our view, is not what may happen in Israel, but the one that is needed right here in the United States. It will happen in November, and it cannot get here soon enough," he said.

According to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, the Biden administration on Wednesday renewed a sanctions waiver that "grants Iran access to $10 billion in previously escrowed funds." Experts at the organization said they harshly oppose the move.

“This waiver helped subsidize the murder of three American soldiers in Jordan and non-stop attacks on the U.S. Navy and American-owned ships in the Red Sea. Continuing to give Iran access to billions will only further fuel terrorism, missile proliferation, and nuclear escalation," said Richard Goldberg, a senior advisor at FDD. Academics have long described Iran as a sponsor-state of terrorism. 

A group of House Republicans have been advocating for the Biden administration not to allow Iran to access the $10 billion.

"Iran has a history of lying about humanitarian transactions. There is no reason to think that they will not try to skirt these restrictions again. Additionally, money is fungible, and the waiver and subsequent transfer will free up billions in funds that Iran can now spend on its terrorist proxies, nuclear activities, and military," wrote Congressman Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., and other Republicans in a letter to Secretary of State Tony Blinken on Wednesday.

Michael Oren, former Israeli ambassador to the U.S., reacted to Schumer's comments on the "Just the News, Not Noise" TV program.

"As an Israeli citizen, I take deep offense with those remarks. You know, Israel is one of a handful of countries in the world that's never known as second of non-democratic governance," he said on Thursday evening. "And what I heard coming from Senator Schumer was contempt, disrespect, not just of our democracy, but our sovereignty, which is very incompatible in relations between any allies, certainly between Democratic allies and certainly with regard to a democratic ally, which is confronting a desperate war."

He continued, saying, "How would Senator Schumer react if Israelis went to the polls and re-elected Benjamin Netanyahu? Would that satisfy him?"

Oren said Israel and its allies "can't concede” on the need to "destroy Hamas” as well as confront Hezbollah and the Iranian regime's nuclear program.

"These are all serious strategic, and in some cases, existential threats to the state of Israel. And we simply cannot concede. There's no wiggle room," he said.