During a Saturday, March 30 interview on MSNBC with host Alex Witt, House Minority Leader Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a New York Democrat, went on the attack against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling him a “maniac” and saying that Netanyahu needs to be removed from office amidst his nation’s ongoing fight with Hamas.
That discussion came amidst Rep. Bowman and Witt discussing the massive amounts of military aid that the Biden Administration has provided to Israel during the fight with Hamas, including twenty-five F-35 stealth fighter-bombers and copious amounts of munitions. Rep. Bowman argued that the number of civilian casualties in Gaza reflects poorly on the Israeli government and that Congress should have received advanced notification of the military aid being provided to Israel. He also argued that a cease-fire is required, at this point.
Witt raised the subject, asking about whether the Biden Administration should have addressed political issues before agreeing to provide Israel with so much aid, asking, “Given the politics of it and the fact that this was approved years ago, should the administration, I mean, the tenor of things right now, should the administration have taken that into consideration when approving this? Should Congress have been notified?”
In response, Rep. Bowman first agreed that, regardless of everything else, Congress certainly should have been notified about this aid deal ahead of time, telling Witt, “Oh, absolutely. Congress should have been notified and forget the politics of it.”
Continuing, Rep. Bowman argued in support of a ceasefire, saying, “This is about our humanity, and this is about our morality. We have hundreds of thousands of children starving to death in Gaza right now, as we speak, the majority of the American people support a permanent ceasefire. The majority of my district supports a permanent ceasefire. We need a permanent ceasefire.”
He then claimed that there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza that could be alleviated by requiring Israel to allow in the hundreds of aid trucks that are waiting just over the border to flow into Gaza, saying, “We need to bring in hundreds of trucks that are five miles away from Gaza right now of aid, to save as many lives as possible. There’s a humanitarian crisis.”
That’s when he went on the attack against Netanyahu, saying, “The majority of Gaza has already been destroyed through acts of collective punishment by this maniac, Benjamin Netanyahu. I’m 100% with Senator Schumer. He needs to be removed. He is a blockade to a pathway to peace. And we need a cease fire right now. That’s what we should be focused on humanitarian aid, not weapons.”
Watch Rep. Bowman here:
Sen. Schumer, for reference, said in March of 2024 that Netanyahu “all too frequently bowed to the demands of extremists.” Sen. Schumer added that “It has become clear to me the Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after October 7.” It is presumably those comments that Rep. Bowman was referencing when he mentioned Sen. Schumer’s comments on Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Sen. Schumer also said that Netanyahu “has put himself in coalition with far-right extremists like Ministers [Bezalel] Smotrich and [Itamar] Ben-Gvir, and as a result, he has been too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows.”
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