Netanyahu blasts Sen. Schumer: 'We're not a banana republic': Updates

Editor's Note: This page is a summary of news on the Israel-Hamas war for Sunday, March 17. For the latest news on the conflict in the Middle East, view our live updates file on the war for Monday, March 18.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday denied claims that he is an obstacle to peace in Gaza and dismissed as "totally inappropriate" Sen. Chuck Schumer's call for Israelis to hold elections to vote Netanyahu from power.

"It's inappropriate to go to a sister democracy and try to replace the elected leadership," Netanyahu said. "That is something the Israeli public does on its own, we're not a banana republic."

Schumer, D-NY, the nation's highest-ranking Jewish elected official and long a supporter of Israel, said last week that "nobody expects Prime Minister Netanyahu to do the things that must be done to break the cycle of violence, preserve Israel’s credibility on the world stage and work toward a two-state solution.”

Netanyahu, in an interview on CNN's "State of the Union" hours after a massive protest in Tel Aviv demanding his resignation, said the only government Israel and the U.S. should be working to bring down is "Hamas tyranny that murdered over a thousand Israelis and dozens of Americans" during the Oct. 7 attack on Israeli border communities.

Netanyahu also said Israelis support the war and even the plan to storm the crowded city of Rafah to destroy what the Israeli military says are the last remaining Hamas battalions.

"This is a wakeup call to Sen. Schumer," Netanyahu said. "It's not a fringe governent, it represents the policies supported by the majority of the people. If Sen. Schumer opposes these policies, he is not opposing me, he is opposing the people of Israel."

Developments:

∎ Democratic Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin, who is Jewish, defended Schumer's statements about Netanyahu but said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that "it’s up to the Israelis to determine their own leaders.”

∎ Israeli military Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said in a statement that much has been achieved in the war but warned that "we still have a long way to go until the war goals are achieved.”

Photos: The first day of Ramadan in war-torn Gaza as millions struggle to survive

EU chief says Rafah invasion must be avoided 'at all costs'

Netanyahu reaffirmed Israel's commitment to commence a ground campaign in the southern city of Rafah, saying Hamas "has to be eliminated." Rafah is now home to 1.4 million Palestinians, including many who fled there from fighting elsewhere in Gaza. He acknowledged the offensive would take several weeks and said plans are being put in place to protect civilians.

The Biden administration and most world leaders have urged Netanyahu to abandon the plan, saying too many civilians would be killed. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, at a joint press conference Sunday in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, said Israel’s planned Rafah invasion "needs to be avoided at all costs.”

Netanyahu also said Israel will keep trying to secure a deal that would see the release of hostages in exchange for a six-week pause in fighting. Hamas has balked, demanding an end to the war and Israeli troops withdrawn from Gaza. Netanyahu's position has sparked outrage from some family members of the hostages, saying the government's firm stance has stalled the talks.

Palestinian foreign ministry accuses Israel of 'blind revenge'

Netanyahu's almost daily threats to invade Rafah pose a blatant challenge to the American and international community to protect civilians, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "Blind revenge" for the Oct. 7 assault on Israel dominates the Israeli government and threatens the security and stability of the region and the world, the statement warned.

The ministry called for a steady flow of humanitarian aid and a binding U.N. cease-fire resolution. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant signed a letter last week pledging to use U.S. weapons according to international law and to allow U.S.-supported humanitarian aid into Gaza. The Palestinian statement said Gallant "underestimates the world" and signed the pledge but continues to commit "massacres."

"Netanyahu's massacres strike at the foundations of the international legal and humanitarian system, plunging it into rampant moral chaos," the statement said.

Trump backs Israel, chastises Schumer, Biden

Former President Donald Trump on Sunday expressed support for Israel's war in Gaza but said Israel must "finish it up and do it quickly." Trump, speaking Sunday on Fox News Channel’s "MediaBuzz," chastised Schumer and President Joe Biden, saying they and other critics of the Israeli offensive are diminishing the beating Israel took Oct. 7.

Biden has repeatedly criticized Israel for the number of civilian casualties Palestinians are experiencing. He has urged Israel not to commence a ground offensive in Rafah until a legitimate plan to protect civilians is in place. But Biden also has repeatedly said he won't abandon Israel. Trump said Israel remains loyal to U.S. Democrats "to a fault" and that Biden cares more about getting votes than protecting Israel.

"I guess he's seeing, you know, the Palestinians and he's seeing the marches, and they are big," Trump said of Biden. "And he says, 'I want to go that way instead of Israel.' ... And all of a sudden he dumped Israel. That's what he's doing. He dumped Israel."

Israeli universities balk at plan to grant soldiers passing grades

A proposed Israeli law designed to help reservists returning to their studies by providing automatic passing grades violates academic independence and should be altered, the heads of Israel’s leading universities say in a letter to the Knesset Education Committee. The law would require universities to grant a certain number of passing grades on exams and courses to returning reservists, along with some automatic academic credits. Other benefits, including financial grants, depend on the duration and type of reserve duty, with more benefits going to those who served the longest in combat units, the Times of Israel reports.

The proposal "would trample on the authority of higher education institutions… the meaning of its passage would be that the Knesset, and not the universities, would determine what a student needs to study in order to receive an academic degree,” the Association of University Heads says in the letter that also indicates they schools would not comply with the law.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Israel Hamas updates: Netanyahu blasts Sen. Schumer