This is John Batchelor, conversation with my colleagues, Malcolm Honeen of the Conference of Presidents,

Major American Jewish Organizations, and our guest Jonathan Shenzer, the Foundation for the

Defense of Democracy, reflecting on a speech by the majority

leader of the United States Senate Charles Schumer, Democrat of New York, using the word

pariah towards Israel and directing his remarks especially at telling Israel to call an election and remove

or overwhelm with a negative vote, the prime minister, the duly elected

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, asking Jonathan

directly, are you surprised by this apparent

break with alliance with Israel,

that Netanyahu was elected by the Israeli people

and that he supervises a coalition,

a national cabinet.

Here's Jonathan Shenzer Foundation for the Defense of Democracy.

Good evening.

Look, I'm surprised in the sense that it's coming from Schumer.

And you know, Schumer has vowed to protect Israel he purports to be the one that is

defending Israel and Washington at all costs and he now appears to have succumbed to

pressure from the White House which has been leaking information

about Benjamin Netanyahu, which has been attacking the Prime Minister directly.

It has been challenging his legitimacy as the elected leader of Israel.

And of course this is not a great look for the world's leading democracy, the one that is trying right now to win over allies around the world

in the great power competition that it has with China and Russia.

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