Democratic senator worried Netanyahu trying to ‘influence’ US election

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) says he’s worried Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be trying to influence the U.S. presidential election by showing little interest in striking a peace deal with Hamas and instead escalating the threat of a broader war in the Middle East by aggressively confronting Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Murphy acknowledged that the prospect of peace in Gaza before Election Day does not seem likely and that Netanyahu appears to have an eye on domestic U.S. politics as he wages a bombing campaign deep into Lebanon targeting Hezbollah.

“I certainly worry that Prime Minister Netanyahu is watching the American election as he makes decisions about his military campaigns in the north and in Gaza,” Murphy told CNN’s Erin Burnett.

“I hope this is not true, but it is certainly a possibility that the Israeli government is not going to sign any diplomatic agreement prior to the American election as a means, potentially, to try to influence the result,” Murphy said, alluding to the deep divisions among the Democratic Party over the war in Gaza.

Murphy said he hopes he is wrong in that assessment but stated that the evidence is pointing toward that conclusion.

“I don’t think you have to be a hopeless cynic to read some of Israel’s actions, some of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s actions, as connected to the American election,” Murphy said.

The lack of a peace deal in Gaza is a politically liability for President Biden and Vice President Harris most prominently in Michigan, which is home to a large population of Palestinian Americans and other people of Middle Eastern heritage.

More than 100,000 Michigan Democratic primary voters cast ballots for “uncommitted” in the February primary to express their concerns and opposition to Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza.

Biden received fewer votes than “uncommitted” in Dearborn and Hamtramck, where Arab Americans comprise a large part of the population.

The escalation of fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah, which has drawn Iran closer into direct military conflict with Israel, has given former President Trump an opening to criticize Biden’s and Harris’s handling of foreign policy and national security.

“I’ve been talking about World War III for a long time, and I don’t want to make predictions because the predictions always come true. But they are very close to global catastrophe,” Trump said at an event Tuesday. “We have a nonexistent president and a nonexistent vice president who should be in charge.”