Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Sunday falsely claimed that his refusal to shake hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a floor speech last week was due to “serious differences” over policy.
Photos and video footage released by Netanyahu’s office of Mr Schumer’s private meeting with Mr Netanyahu before the speech showed him shaking hands with Mr Netanyahu, a cordial gesture Mr Schumer has refused to repeat in public.
Viewers watching Netanyahu’s speech noted Schumer’s blatant refusal to shake hands with the prime minister as he walked down the aisle of the House chamber to the podium.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (top left) walks in front of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) (right) as he arrives to address a joint session of Congress calling for support for Israel’s fight against Hamas and other hostile forces, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, July 24, 2024. Schumer, the first Jewish majority leader in the Senate and the highest-ranking Jewish official in the United States, said Netanyahu has “lost his way” and is an obstacle to peace in the region. (Associated Press Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Chuck Schumer refuses to shake hands @Netanyahu pic.twitter.com/kB5nG05CRd
— Joel Fischer (@realJoelFischer) July 24, 2024
Schumer said: explain His attitude towards CBS News’ Robert Costa Confronting the state on sunday:
ROBERT COSTA: Going back to the Middle East, Senator, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel is in Washington, and you were part of a formal bipartisan invitation to bring the prime minister to Washington.
But there was a video of you not shaking hands with him when you were on the floor of the Capitol. Why? Why didn’t you shake hands with him?
Senator Chuck Schumer: Well, I gave this speech because the relationship between Israel and the United States is strong and I wanted to demonstrate that.
But at the same time, as you all know, I have serious complaints about the way Benjamin Netanyahu has pursued these policies.
Refusing to shake hands with a visiting foreign leader, especially a democratically elected leader, is a serious breach of etiquette.
Especially when the entire business of Congress is managing “serious differences” over policy, which doesn’t prevent party leaders from shaking hands.
However, Schumer had actually shook hands with Netanyahu privately prior to that.
Below is the video footage (courtesy of Roy Abraham and Ben Peretz of the Israeli Government Press Office):
Here’s the photo (Courtesy of Amos Ben-Gersom/GPO):
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a private meeting with congressional leaders on Capitol Hill ahead of Netanyahu’s speech on July 24, 2024. (Amos Ben-Gershom/GPO)
In March, Schumer spoke on the Senate floor, calling for Netanyahu to be ousted with new elections, a speech that earned him an unusual amount of support. Reprimand From American Jewish leaders.
Schumer’s refusal to shake hands with Netanyahu in public joins the ranks of athletes from Arab and Muslim countries who refused to shake hands with Israeli athletes at the Paris Olympics.
But Mr Schumer privately shook hands with Mr Netanyahu, suggesting that he was trying to send a public signal to anti-Israel voters within the Democratic Party while taking a different stance behind closed doors.
Joel B. Pollack is executive editor of Breitbart News. Breitbart News Sunday The show airs Sunday nights from 7 to 10 p.m. (4 to 7 p.m. ET) on SiriusXM Patriot. He is the author of “Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” which is available for preorder on Amazon. He also wrote,Trumpian virtue: The lessons and legacy of Donald Trump’s presidency” is available on Audible. He is the 2018 recipient of the Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter. Joel Pollack.
