Schumer points to ‘serious disagreements’ as reason for not shaking Netanyahu’s hand

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) suggested Sunday he did not shake Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hand due to “serious disagreements.”

Netanyahu delivered an address to a joint session of Congress last week, and lawmakers reacted with mixed reactions. Schumer and Netanyahu exchanged head nods instead of a handshake before the speech.

“Well, look, you know, I went to this speech because the relationship between Israel and America is ironclad, and I wanted to show that. But at the same time, as everyone knows, I have serious disagreements with the way Benjamin Netanyahu has conducted these policies,” Schumer said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” when asked why he did not shake his hand.

Earlier this year, Schumer called for new elections in Israel and said that Netanyahu had “lost his way.”

“As a lifelong supporter of Israel, it has become clear to me: The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after Oct. 7,” Schumer said in March. “The world has changed — radically — since then, and the Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past.”

Netanyahu said at the time that Schumer’s comments were “totally inappropriate.”

Schumer ultimately ended up signing the invitation for Netanyahu to address Congress after an initial delay.