What’s driving the divide between Netanyahu and the White House?

KCRW's Left, Right & Center

KCRW

352865, News

4.2 • 4.8K Ratings

🗓️ 22 March 2024

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer upset critics on the right when he called for an election in Israel to remove Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister. Schumer’s counterpart, Mitch McConnell, called the move “disrespectful” of Israeli democracy and sovereignty.

Many think Netanyahu’s administration is on the path to peace in Gaza, but a planned offensive in the southern city of Rafah could worsen the situation. Despite Schumer’s perceived overstep, was he right about the need for leadership to resolve the conflict and secure the return of Israeli hostages? Should American officials re-examine their relationship with Netanyahu?

The House of Representatives’ consideration of a TikTok ban seems to fit with the federal government’s larger push to regulate social media. Members of the House say the effort is aimed at improving the content available to Americans online. Does it represent a larger trend of policies accused of stifling free speech?

As part of our 50 states series, we examine a question that’s taken on increased importance in recent years: Who can we trust to run our elections?

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to left right and center everybody. I'm David Green and we want to begin with the
0:04.9	situation in Gaza which is growing even more dire for Palestinian civilians there.
0:09.9	A UN-backed report says that famine is imminent and the Gaza Health Ministry says people are
0:16.2	already dying of hunger.
0:18.3	Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that he is still planning a ground offensive
0:22.2	in the southern Gaza city of
0:23.4	Rafa he says it is essential to eliminate Hamas and the group's military
0:28.0	capabilities. Christopher Lachir is Secretary General of the organization Doctors Without Borders.
0:34.4	He is in Raffa and he spoke to NPR about the potential for an Israeli offensive.
0:39.6	It's terrifying.
0:40.9	I'm trying to get my head around it. I mean, a ground offensive in this area where I am now would be absolutely horrific. I mean, and where do people go? I mean just two days ago there was fighting around the
0:55.3	Shiva Hospital in the north and people were told to evacuate there to the
0:59.8	al-Oasi area of Rafa which is literally exactly where I'm sitting now. They
1:04.5	couldn't move because of Israeli military checkpoints on the on the way.
1:09.3	Now Lockyer is not alone. President Biden has urged Netanyahu not to order this ground attack which led Israel's prime minister to confess
1:17.6	that he is having an argument with the Americans right now and And this is not familiar territory.
1:24.0	U.S. presidents and lawmakers are usually unified and unwavering
1:28.0	in support of Israel, and that is not the case right now.
1:31.0	Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish
1:34.0	politician in American history, openly criticized Netanyahu's leadership in a
1:38.4	recent speech. He won't disavow ministers Smotrich and Ben G Gvere in their calls for Israelis to drive Palestinians
1:45.2	out of Gaza and the West Bank.
	...

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