So Netanyahu, in a virtual meeting, addressed Senate Republicans instead.
A spokesperson said Schumer declined, saying conversations should not be partisan, Reuters reported.
“I care deeply about Israel and its long-term future. When you make the issue partisan, you hurt the cause of helping Israel,” Schumer told reporters.
Schumer earlier this month labeled Netanyahu an obstacle to peace in the Middle East and called for new elections in Israel.
For that, he was called out by The Jerusalem Post as “no guardian of Israel.”
Sans Schumer and Democrats, Netanyahu updated the GOP with a 45-minute video-call breakdown of Israel’s war with Hamas.
“He walked through some of the military operations, what’s happening in their government, the structure, how they’re holding up under the stress of war, suddenly, since Oct. 7 of last year,” Sen. James Lankford (R-Oklahoma) said on Washington Watch Wednesday.
Netanyahu also discussed his desire for a ground offensive to root out Hamas in the Gaza-Egypt border community of Rafah.
Israel Defense Forces commanders say four Hamas battalions are hiding in Rafah among 1.4 million Palestinian civilians. The Israelis also believe senior Hamas militants are in the city.
From a strategic standpoint an IDF offensive seems like a no-brainer. The question becomes whether allies can stomach unavoidable loss of civilian life.
Lankford told show host Tony Perkins that the numbers of Palestinian deaths, reported by Hamas which controls the government, are distorted because they don’t separate civilian deaths from the deaths of Hamas terrorist fighters.
About those death numbers released by Hamas
“When you often hear the numbers from Hamas saying there were 30,000 people that have died in this, they conveniently leave out that 14-15,000 of those are Hamas fighters,” he said.
Israel is considering the safety of Palestinians, Lankford said.
“They’ve also been very clear they’re doing everything they can to protect the lives of civilians. Every single life is valuable, and Israel is being very aggressive to do what they can to protect the lives of civilians, but this is a war that Hamas started, and they continue to hide hostages and their fighters among civilians.”
Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that he has overwhelming support within Israel to fully eradicate Hamas.
However, lost in calls for a ceasefire from President Joe Biden and demands for new Israeli elections from Shumer are the promises by Hamas officials to repeat the atrocities of Oct. 7 as much as possible.
“(Netanyahu) can’t do that without actually going into where they’re hiding under civilians,” Lankford said. “There’s this whole push from the (Biden) administration to say don’t go into Rafah and take out Hamas there. There are multiple units that are organized terrorist groups that are hiding out in Rafah.
“This would be like in World War II to say, ‘Take out the Nazis, but don’t go to Berlin. Leave Berlin alone. You can’t actually go into that area and take out those Nazis.’ His challenge is ‘I’ve got Hamas as an organized terrorist organization that they have repeatedly, even recently, said ‘When this is over we’re going to go back and do another Oct. 7. We will do it as many times as we possibly can.,’” Lankford said.
Netanyahu addressed more than Hamas with GOP senators. He referenced the “three H’s” of terror taking aim at Israel right now with Hezbollah and the Houthis, both Iran-backed groups, rounding out the trifecta.
The Three H’s of Terror
“People lose sight of the fact that the Houthis right now are still launching rockets at Israel, some of them have actually impacted in Israel, all the way from Yemen. They’re launching rockets toward civilians (from) there.
“Hezbollah continues to be able to shoot rockets into Northern Israel, where you’ve got 100,000 Israelis who have had to flee from their homes in northern Israel. Hezbollah continues to be able to threaten them and launch rockets at them,” Lankford said.
Most people focus on the Palestinian refugees and forget about Israelis who have been displaced in their own country, Lankford said.
Some evacuees from Southern Israel have begun to return home – at a trickle reports The Times of Israel – but approximately 80,000 residents who were displaced from Northern Israel – where Hezbollah attacks with rockets – continue to deal with tight living quarters and separated families.
“While they talk about people displaced in Gaza, and it’s tragic, and all human life is valuable, what’s happening in the war that Hamas started, people just conveniently leave out that 100,000 people in Northern Israel that are also having to live as refugees away from their homes because of Hezbollah attacks,” Lankford said.
