Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu railed Sunday against growing criticism from top ally the United States against his leadership amid the devastating war with Hamas, describing calls for a new election as “wholly inappropriate.”

In recent days, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in the country and a strong Israel supporter, called on Israel to hold a new election, saying Netanyahu had “lost his way.” President Joe Biden expressed support for Schumer’s “good speech,” and earlier accused Netanyahu of hurting Israel because of the huge civilian death toll in Gaza.

Netanyahu told Fox News that Israel never would have called for a new U.S. election after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, and denounced Schumer’s comments as inappropriate.

“We’re not a banana republic,” he said. “The people of Israel will choose when they will have elections, and who they’ll elect, and it’s not something that will be foisted on us.”

  • The Snark Urge
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    113 months ago

    I remember seeing people getting swept up in the transient sense of belonging and power that came with all the xenophobia and nationalism that followed. There are probably many who pine for that feeling, and fail to recognize its part in our undoing.

    • @Buddahriffic
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      73 months ago

      Oh yeah, absolutely. I remember feeling that to a degree myself (and I’m not even American), though I also remember thinking the “freedom fries” shit was dumb. But the fervor was still popular enough that Bush got his second term.

      But I’ve been under the impression that it has since faded.

      • The Snark Urge
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        63 months ago

        I think the word is “metastasized”

        • @bitwaba
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          63 months ago

          “metastisized fries” doesn’t have the same ring to it.