President Biden praises Chuck Schumer's 'good speech' calling for elections to replace Netanyahu saying it expressed 'serious concern': President reveals senator gave the White House a heads up before inflammatory remarks

President Joe Biden on Friday praised Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's controversial Senate floor speech in which the New York Democrat called for new elections in Israel to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

On Thursday, Schumer said Netanyahu had 'lost his way' and had become an 'obstacle to peace' due to putting together a coalition of 'far-right extremists' to lead the Israeli government in its war against Hamas after the October 7 terror attacks.

That war has led to an escalating death toll of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, leading to a global outcry for a ceasefire, including on the Democratic left, who have voted 'uncommitted' in Democratic primaries to send Biden a message. 

'Sen. Schumer contacted my staff - my senior staffer - that he was going to make that speech. And I'm not going to elaborate on the speech,' Biden told reporters Friday as he met with Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in the Oval Office. 

'He made a good speech, and I think he expressed serious concern shared not only by him, but by many Americans,' Biden added. 

President Joe Biden on Friday praised Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's controversial Senate floor speech in which the Democratic leader called for new elections in Israel to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 

On Thursday, Schumer said Netanyahu had 'lost his way' and had become an 'obstacle to peace' due to putting together a coalition of 'far-right extremists' to lead the Israeli government in its war against Hamas after the October 7 terror attacks

An earlier statement from the White House said that Schumer alerted the president that he planned to make the speech and the administration expressed 'no approval or disapproval' of it.

During the Friday afternoon briefing, both National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre couldn't exactly define what Biden meant was 'good.' 

'The president spoke about the passion in which Leader Schumer made that speech and the president said that he knows those remarks resonate with many Americans out there,' Kirby said. 

When another reporter asked if the president meant that the substance of the speech was good or the 'passion' of the speech was good, Kirby answered, 'I'll leave it at the president's comments.'

Later, Jean-Pierre wouldn't say if Biden had spoken to Schumer since he made his address.   

Both Israel and Republican allies in Congress slammed Schumer's words. 

Israel called Schumer's speech 'unhelpful' while the country was 'at war against a genocidal terror organization.' 

The top Senate Republican, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, called Schumer's speech 'grotesque.'

'It is grotesque and hypocritical for Americans who hyperventilate about foreign interference in our own democracy to call for the removal of the democratically elected leader of Israel,' McConnell said. 'This is unprecedented.'  

Israel's Ambassador to the U.S., Michael Herzog, said: 'Israel is a sovereign democracy. It is unhelpful, all the more so as Israel is at war against the genocidal terror organization Hamas, to comment on the domestic political scene of a democratic ally. It is counterproductive to our common goals.'  

Schumer's harsh criticism follows moves from President Joe Biden and Democrats to ramp up the pressure on Netanyahu to protect Palestinian civilians as he carries on his offensive.

Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas following the terrorist group's October 7 atrocity in Israel 

The Biden administration has also called for a temporary ceasefire to get aid to Palestinians and to allow the release of hostages captured by Hamas. 

Netanyahu has vowed to carry on fighting until Hamas has been destroyed.

But Democrats have started to question his motives, sparking Schumer to deliver some of the most scathing criticism to date. 

Schumer added: 'He (Netanyahu) has been too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza. Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah.

'As a lifelong supporter of Israel, it has become clear to me: The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after October 7.

'The world has changed — radically — since then, and the Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past.' 

Schumer said the only solution is 'a demilitarized Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in equal measures of peace, security, prosperity and dignity.' 

Netanyahu has rejected the idea of two-state solution because he believes it will allow a Hamas to maintain its presence and threaten the future of Israel.

Schumer's comments sparked an immediate reaction from Republicans who called his speech 'inappropriate and offensive'.

'The last thing Israel needs is the "foreign election interference" that Democrats so often decry here,' Republican Sen. Tom Cotton said. 

'Besides, the main elections that worry Chuck Schumer aren't Israel's but our elections, because the rampant anti-Semitism that the Democratic Party has allowed to fester in its ranks is massively unpopular with the pro-Israel American public.'