On Sunday, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) shared some harsh criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that Israel’s actions in Gaza were equivalent to “ethnic cleansing.”
Sanders shared his thoughts while appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” saying that a ceasefire was necessary to stop the killing in Gaza, which is continuing to see its death toll rise.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt that what Netanyahu is doing now — displacing 80% of the population in Gaza — is ethnic cleansing. That’s what it is. Pushing out huge numbers of people,” Sanders said.
The well-known independent senator also shared his thoughts on pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses across the country and Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) remarks last week.
“What I think the essential point that Ilhan made is that we do not want to see antisemitism in this country. And I think the word genocide is something that is being determined by the International Court of Justice,” he said.
Omar, whose daughter, Isra Hirsi, attends Columbia and recently fell into trouble with the school after she participated in ‘unauthorized’ and ‘repeated’ protests over the war in Gaza on campus, visited the school last week.
While on campus, she spoke about the protests, sharing that she spoke with several Jewish students who are also against the war in Gaza.
“I actually met a lot of Jewish students that are in the encampment. I think it is really unfortunate that people don’t care about the fact that all Jewish kids should be kept safe and that we should not have to tolerate antisemitism or bigotry for all Jewish students, whether they are pro-genocide or anti-genocide,” Omar said, referring to the Jewish students’ positions ont he Israel-Hamas war.
As for Sanders, his criticism of Netanyahu is nothing new, as he and other senior senators, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), have called for him to halt his tactics in Gaza.
Sanders also doubled down on his call for the United States to stop sending aid to Israel, saying the country should not be funding Israel’s actions in Gaza.
“And now we’re looking at the possibility of an attack on Rafah, where people have gone to as a so-called safety zone. So, what’s going on there, again, to my mind, is outrageous. And as you’ve indicated, I strongly oppose U.S. funding for Netanyahu’s war machine,” Sanders said.