President Joe Biden expressed support for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Friday after the senator called for new elections in Israel, the latest sign that the US relationship with its closest Middle East ally is careening toward fracture over the war in Gaza.

Schumer, a Jewish Democrat from New York, sent tremors through both countries this week when he said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “lost his way” and warned that “Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah” as the Palestinian death toll grows. “He made a good speech,” Biden said in the Oval Office during a meeting with Ireland’s prime minister. “I think he expressed serious concerns shared not only by him but by many Americans.”