Biden says Schumer’s controversial call for new Israeli elections was ‘a good speech’

President Joe Biden on Friday praised Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s bombshell remarks calling for new elections in Israel, just a day after the New York Democrat said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. was an “obstacle” to peace in the region.

Mr Biden was asked about the Senate leader’s remarks during an Oval Office meeting alongside Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who is making the traditional St Patrick’s Day visit to Washington.

In response, the president said Mr Schumer had reached out to a “senior staffer” at the White House ahead of his Thursday remarks from the Senate floor, but said he would not elaborate on what the majority leader had said.

“He made a good speech, and I think he expressed serious concern shared not only by him, but by many Americans,” he said.

A short time later, Mr Varadkar, the Irish leader, raised the humanitarian situation in Gaza, telling Mr Biden:  “My view is that we need a ceasefire as soon as possible to get food and medicine in, to get the hostages out”.

“We need to talk about how we can make that happen and move towards a two state solution,” he added.

Mr Biden replied: “I agree”.

Mr Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish-American to ever serve in any US elected office, took to the Senate floor on Thursday to say he was speaking for a “silent majority” of American Jews who hold “nuanced views” on the months-long war between Israel and Hamas.

While conceding that Israel remains “surrounded by vicious enemies” and vowing to “never underestimate” either the “grave threats Israel faces — and has faced — for the entirety of its existence” or “ the oppression that the Jewish people have endured for millennia,” the Senate leader said Israel must make “significant course