Photo: AFP
Comments made Thursday on the Senate floor by Senator Chuck Schumer— long seen as one of the most ardent supporters of Israel-- had jaws dropping in Washington and New York, after he claimed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a “major obstacle to peace” and intimated he should be replaced by the Israelis. It was a stunning denouncement that many feel is only a ploy to boost sagging Democrat poll numbers in an election year, while some critics called Schumer’s comments an attempt to interfere with the leadership of another country. Representative Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY 4th) is among those outraged by the speech. He appeared on 710 WOR’s Len Berman and Michael Riedel in the Morning Program to voice his disbelief at Schumer’s about-face on Israel.
“The prime minister of Israel is chosen by the citizens of Israel, not the majority leader of the United States Senate,” D’Esposito pointed out to Berman and Riedel. “At a time when America needs to be standing closest with Israel, the last thing we need is Chuck Schumer out there creating more tension and more aggravation… we need to set a tone that Israel is our strongest ally, that we want to provide every resource necessary for them to eradicate Hamas off the face of this planet, and his comments yesterday were completely hypocritical.”
Schumer’s contention that Netanyahu is the greatest obstacle to peace in the Middle East is what D’Esposito finds most shocking. “He claims that Israel is our greatest ally. I believe that and I express that every single day, and now he is saying that their leader, in a time of war, is the greatest obstacle. I don’t remember that in our times of peril, whether it’s 9/11 or wars that we faced, where leaders from other countries have said that we should remove our President because it seems to be our fault.”
D’Esposito, who was once a rank-and-file member of the NYPD, was also asked if there is anything that can be done to restore order to the subways, in light of Thursday’s shooting on a packed A train in Brooklyn. “What (the cops) need is the resources. They need the state government-- they need Hochul, the Democratic Senate and the Democratic Assembly-- to repeal bail reform, to repeal cashless bail, take the handcuffs off the cops and allow them to put them on the criminals, because right now criminals feel they can do whatever they want in this city and in New York State because there are no repercussions to acting like animals.”
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