Deposing Israel’s king

After weeks of Israel flouting America’s advice on making greater provision for civilians in , on March 14th something snapped. , the Senate majority leader and one of Israel’s staunchest supporters in the Democratic Party, accused the country’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, of having “lost his way” and being “too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows”. Crucially, Mr Schumer, who is Jewish, called for early elections in Israel. Shortly after, Joe Biden endorsed this message, calling the remarks “a good speech”.American presidents have had blazing rows with Israeli prime ministers before (see Lexington column). But it is hard to think of a time when the occupant of the Oval Office has come so close to publicly endorsing the deposing of Israel’s elected leader. On March 17th Mr Netanyahu struck back, saying Mr Schumer’s comments were “totally inappropriate” and that an election would “paralyse the country for at least six months”.