Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has reportedly turned down Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request to address Senate Democrats at their caucus lunch Wednesday. 

While the Israeli prime minister spoke to Senate Republicans at a lunch Wednesday, Schumer denied his request to speak with Senate Democrats over video call, saying, “these conversations shouldn’t happen in a partisan manner,” Punchbowl News reported.

When asked by reporters on Wednesday about denying Netanyahu’s request, Schumer responded, “When you make the issue partisan, you hurt the cause of Israel.”  

Last week, Schumer, who is the United States’s highest-ranking Jewish official, criticized Netanyahu in his speech, saying he had “lost his way” and called on Israel to hold new elections. Schumer said his comments were motivated by his Jewish faith. 

Schumer has faced criticism from Republicans for last week’s comments, with former President Donald Trump saying, “Any Jewish person who votes for Democrats hates their religion.”  

President Joe Biden backed Schumer’s speech, saying, “he made a good speech, and I think he expressed serious concern shared not only by him but by many Americans.”

Meanwhile, Netanyahu called Schumer’s words “totally inappropriate.”   

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Biden spoke with Netanyahu for the first time in over a month on Monday; the two leaders’ relationship has become strained over Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza. 

While Biden supported the prime minister following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, Biden has begun to distance himself from Netanyahu as the death toll in Gaza rises.