Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) suggested on Sunday that his decision not to shake hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to “serious differences.”
Netanyahu’s speech to a joint session of Congress last week drew mixed reactions from lawmakers, with Schumer and Netanyahu nodding instead of shaking hands before the speech.
“Well, you know, the reason I came to this speech is because the Israeli-American relationship is solid and I wanted to demonstrate that. But at the same time, as you all know, I have serious complaints about the way Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pursued these policies,” Schumer said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” when asked why he didn’t shake hands.
Schumer called for new elections in Israel earlier this year, saying Netanyahu had “lost his way.”
“As a lifelong supporter of Israel, it has become clear to me that after Oct. 7, Netanyahu’s coalition government no longer serves Israel’s needs,” Schumer said in March. “The world has fundamentally changed since then, and the Israeli people are now being oppressed by a governing vision stuck in the past.”
Netanyahu said at the time that Schumer’s comments were “totally inappropriate.”
After an initial postponement, Schumer eventually signed an invitation for Netanyahu to address Congress.
