Nancy Pelosi Calls on Netanyahu to Resign

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's approach to the war in Gaza and said he should resign because he is an "obstacle to peace."

In an interview with Irish broadcaster RTE during a visit to Ireland, Pelosi said that the October 7 attacks by Hamas on southern Israel which killed over 1,200 people and saw 253 people kidnapped were acts of "cruel brutality."

During the ensuing war, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as of Tuesday, according to the local health ministry, cited by the Associated Press.

"We recognize Israel's right to protect itself. We reject the policy of Netanyahu—terrible. What could be worse than what he has done in response?" she said, referring to the reporter's question noting the death toll.

In the wake of the resignation of Israeli's spy chief Commander Major General Aharon Haliva on Monday for intelligence failures that preceded the worst attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust, Pelosi said that it was Netanyahu who "should resign."

When asked if she considered Netanyahu a "block to peace" in the region, Pelosi replied, "He has been for years."

"I don't know whether he is afraid of peace, incapable of peace or just doesn't want peace, but he has been an obstacle to the two-state solution," Pelosi said, "so he's been the problem." Newsweek has contacted Netanyahu's office for comment.

Pelosi had told Newsweek in February that in light of the Israeli prime minister repeatedly dismissing calls for restraint in Gaza, "I'm not a big fan of Netanyahu, as you could just imagine."

Daniel Shadmy, spokesperson for the NGO ELNET-Israel, said that Pelosi's comments showed how complicated the relationship had been between Netanyahu and the Democratic Party over the last few years.

"Their discontent with Netanyahu has not been a secret, especially recently," he told Newsweek. "Nevertheless, however unpopular a leader might be in his democratic country it is not for political leaders from another country to call for elections or for the resignation of a leader in another democratic country, however friendly the countries are."

Shadmy said that Haliva's resignation, which was quickly followed by the resignation of Major General Yehuda Fox symbolically on the Eve of Passover, 200 days after October 7, will increase the pressure on other military and political leaders in Israel to take responsibility too.

"This might be the first domino that will lead to resignations at the political level as well," Shadmy said. "The public discontent with Netanyahu and the negotiations or lack thereof regarding the return of the hostages and around the current coalition is growing daily, and the pressure from within to go for elections is mounting."

He said that a key moment will be whether Defense Minister Benny Gantz chooses to leave the emergency unity government, marking the end of the emergency wartime period and call for elections, which Shadmy said "might happen anytime" between June and September.

Also in the interview with RTE, Pelosi defended President Joe Biden from criticism that he was not doing enough to curb Israel's bombardment of Gaza, telling RTE that he has been "the biggest advocate for humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians" as "the only one advocating at that level."