Courtesy CNN
In an interview Sunday morning on CNN’s State of the Union, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said that while “Israel has a right to defend itself,” its bombing campaign in the Gaza needs to come to an end immediately.
As he told host Dana Bash:
I think it’s clear to most people what Hamas did—and Hamas is an awful terrorist organization—is they slaughtered 1,400 people in cold blood. Israel has a right to defend itself. What Israel does not, in my view, have a right to do is to kill thousands and thousands of innocent men, women, and children who had nothing to do with that attack. So the immediate concern, Dana, to my mind is we’ve got to stop the bombing now.
Bernie Sanders on CNN: "Israel has a right to defend itself. But what Israel does not in my view have a right to do is to kill thousands and thousands of innocent men, women, and children who had nothing to do with that attack … we have got to stop the bombing now." pic.twitter.com/4fYoOUS3cB
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 5, 2023
Sanders said the United States should use military aid as a leverage to force the Israel’s hand. “If you want this money,” he said when asked about a potential Israeli aid package that could come before the Senate, “you’ve got to change your military strategy.”
When asked about the video Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) released on Friday criticizing President Joe Biden for “supporting the genocide of the Palestinian people,” Sanders turned his focus to the Republican response. “What’s happening right now is a horror show—we don’t have to quibble about words,” he said. “One of the things that concerns me, Dana, is there’s not been enough talk about what right-wing Republicans are doing right now. They don’t want any aid to go to the Palestinians. Somebody should be talking about that. Somebody should be talking about how Trump wants to expel Palestinians from this country.
“You can disagree with Joe Biden, but on his worst day he’ll be a hundred times better than where Trump and right-wing Republicans are coming from.”
