Sen. Bernie Sanders accused Israel of embarking on a war against the “entire Palestinian people” and claimed that the US ally has “broken international law.”
“What Israel has done over the last seven months has not just gone to war against Hamas. It has gone to war against the entire Palestinian people, and the results have been absolutely catastrophic,” Sanders (I-Vt.) told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reported that roughly 16,000 civilians and14,000 terrorists have been killed in the war against Hamas during a recent interview with TV’s “Dr. Phil” McGraw.
Sanders, 82, a Jewish senator who announced last week he’s running for re-election, has long been fiercely critical of Israel’s war against Hamas.
He took note of a recent State Department report released last week that concluded it is “reasonable to assess” Israel violated international humanitarian law in Gaza.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken underscored that the State Department hasn’t yet drawn “definitive conclusions,” but Sanders said the verdict is clear.
“The reality is, as I think any objective observer knows, Israel has broken international law. It has broken American law,” Sanders said.
“In my view, Israel should not be receiving another nickel in US military aid.”
Sanders commended Blinken, saying he has an “impossibly difficult job” and lauded President Joe Biden over his decision to halt a major bomb shipment to Israel amid a standstill over the southern Gazan city of Rafah.
“I certainly support the president saying that it is absurd to provide Israel with 2,000-pound bombs which could level an entire square block in the midst of Rafah, which is an incredibly densely populated area,” Sanders said.
Biden has not ruled out shipping those bombs to Israel but publicly confirmed that he is halting them for now amid concerns about Rafah.
At one point, Rafah was estimated to house roughly 1.5 million Palestinians who fled the fighting up north. Many of the refugees have lived in tents over the past couple of weeks.
Netanyahu has vowed to forge ahead into Rafah, claiming that it is one of the last major strongholds of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Biden, 81, has opposed this unless Israel can produce a credible plan for civilians.
Sanders warned that Biden could see his progressive base of young voters fray over the Israel-Hamas war and affirmed he believes the conflict could wind up being the president’s Vietnam.
“I am strongly supporting the president because on many domestic issues, he has done an excellent job. But I think there are a lot of people in the Democratic base who are concerned about his support for Israel in this war,” Sanders said.
The Vermont senator also defended his decision to seek reelection. At the end of a hypothetical fourth term in office, Sanders would be 89.
“I think age is a factor. Experience is the factor. Accomplishment is a factor. And most importantly, a factor in politics is what do you believe in. And I would hope that the people of Vermont and the people of the United States look at candidates in their totality,” he said.
“I would not have announced … my intention to seek re-election unless I felt pretty good.”
