Washington, July 25 (RHC)-- U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders has censured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to the US. Congress, saying the Israeli leader is not only committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip but also lying about the situation in the Palestinian territory.
In an X post on Wednesday, Sanders, an independent of Vermont who caucuses with the Democrats, said: “Netanyahu is not only a war criminal. He is a liar.” “All humanitarian organizations agree: Tens of thousands of children face starvation because his extremist government continues to block aid,” he added. “Israelis want him out of office. So he came to Congress to campaign.”
The remarks came after Netanyahu defended Israel’s genocidal aggression against Gaza before a joint meeting of Congress amid massive protests condemning the regime’s war crimes against the Palestinian people.
The participants at the demonstrations challenged the premier’s visit to the U.S. at a time when the International Criminal Court (ICC) is seeking arrest warrants for him and other Israeli officials over war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Netanyahu has also faced protests in the occupied territories over his refusal to end the bloody Gaza onslaught and inability to secure the release of Israeli captives, with polls showing that more than 70 percent of Israelis want him to resign.
During his Wednesday address, however, Netanyahu brushed aside humanitarian concerns for Gaza, denied that Israel was blocking aid to Palestinians and appealed to the U.S. to fast-track weapons to the occupying regime.
Bernie Sanders was among a number of members of Congress who boycotted Netanyahu's speech.
Addressing the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, Sanders said Israel’s Gaza offensive has “trampled on international law, on American law, and on basic human values.” He also reminded senators of the ongoing hunger, destruction to housing and damage done to Gaza’s health and educational systems.
Bernie Sanders further described the situation in Gaza as “one of the worst disasters in modern history,” which has been aided and abetted by “U.S. taxpayer dollars and weapons.”
“Netanyahu is a right-wing extremist and a war criminal who has devoted his career to killing the prospects for a two-state solution and lasting peace. He should not be welcome in the United States Congress,” Sanders asserted.
Sanders said Netanyahu's policies in Gaza and the West Bank should be "roundly condemned, and his right-wing extremist administration "should not receive another nickel of U.S. taxpayer funding.”
