Letters to the Editor: You can love Israel and want Netanyahu gone at the same time

To the editor: There’s an old joke that the definition of mixed emotions is watching your mother-in-law go over a cliff in your new Mercedes. (“Schumer calls for new elections in Israel, saying Netanyahu has ‘lost his way,’ ” March 14)

My love for and support of Israel are unabated. In contrast, I think Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the right-wingers who constitute his government are the antithesis of all for which Israel stands.

The sooner Israel has elections and gives the authoritarian the boot, the better. Thanks to Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) for articulating what so many Jews here and in Israel believe.

Barbara H. Bergen, Los Angeles

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To the editor: There you have it — a U.S. senator who believes he is better qualified to make strategic decisions for Israel than Netanyahu.

Schumer has never spent a minute of his life in a crucible where he has Iran’s missiles to his east, Hamas’ rockets to the south and Hezbollah’s missiles to the north. He has never led a sovereign country that has been attacked by Hamas, which murdered more than 1,100 of Netanyahu’s citizens and took more than 240 people from their country.

Israel has been through many elections in recent years and needs the stability of a leader who has shown himself to be a steady hand at the wheel during this time of crisis.

Robert Rodine, Sherman Oaks