"The United States has always supported Israel as our friend because it has been in our national security interest to do so," Pelosi said during an interview with with Ireland’s RTÉ's Six One News. "We recognize Israel's right to protect itself,” she continued. “We reject the policy and practice of Netanyahu — terrible. What could be worse than what he has done in response?" Netanyahu has long opposed the idea of a two-state solution after periods of vacillation between suggesting he may be open to the idea, then shifting positions. Yet, over the past decade the Israeli government has seen an influx of more extreme hardliners committed to thwarting any real attempt at a sovereign Palestinian state. In January, the Israeli leader reaffirmed his commitment to opposing an independent Palestinian state, calling such an arrangement “an existential danger to Israel.” Pelosi’s interview came only days after Israel’s military intelligence chief became the first senior official to resign over his role in failing to anticipate or quickly respond to the Oct. 7 attack, which resulted in the deaths of roughly 1,200 people and the capture of around 250 hostages. Netanyahu should follow suit, Pelosi said during the interview, while reiterating her view that Netanyahu has personally been a stumbling block to peace for years. "I don't know whether he's afraid of peace, incapable of peace, or just doesn't want peace, but he has been an obstacle to the two-state solution, I emphasize the word solution,” she said. Pelosi’s remarks also come against the backdrop of a wave of pro-Palestine protests taking place on college campuses across the U.S. Young adults, who typically lean toward voting for Democrats in elections, have for months voiced fierce opposition to Israeli military actions and U.S. support of those actions in the wake of the Hamas attack. As of April 24, the Israeli offensive has resulted in the deaths of 34,262 Palestinians, with another 77,229 injured, more than 70 percent of whom are women and children, according to the latest assessment from the Palestinian Health Ministry. President Joe Biden, who is facing a tight election race, has walked a tightrope attempting to appease a demographic he needs to win (through public censure of Israeli military actions), while also not alienating Israeli leaders and his political opposition (refusing to cutoff funding and military aid, the only real leverage he has). “And, yes, the President is hemorrhaging support among progressives and more than a few mainstream Democrats, but pressing Israel, using this leverage, particularly on military systems, is going to stir up a hornet’s nest among Republicans, conservatives, and the presumptive Republican nominee, who fashions himself as the most pro-Israel President in history,” says Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment and former State Department official. “The Republican Party has emerged as the Israel-Can-Do-No-Wrong Party.” Yet, despite Biden's willingness to allow the Gaza conflict drag on unimpeded, Pelosi said, “The biggest advocate for humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians has been Joe Biden, he's the only one advocating at that level.”Former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is publicly calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign, stating that the fallout from the ongoing counteroffensive since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack is his responsibility and that he is the obstacle to peace in the region.
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