Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) renewed his pledge to boycott Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “war criminal” speech to Congress and again criticized the leader’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.
“Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal,” Sanders said in a declaration released on Saturday. “He should not be invited to speak at a joint meeting of Congress. I certainly won’t.”
Sanders’ rebuke of Netanyahu and Israel’s bombing of Gaza comes as he has been officially invited to speak to Congress, The Hill first reported Friday. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) sent Netanyahu a formal invitation that was also signed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-La.). Ky.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (DN.Y.). .Y.). The speech is expected “in the next eight weeks or right after the August recess,” a source familiar told The Hill.
The progressive Democrat previously said he would not attend any of Netanyahu’s speeches to Congress, saying last week that Israel had created “the worst humanitarian disaster in modern history.” That week, Johnson was pushing for Netanyahu to speak to Congress. Schumer, who previously criticized the prime minister and called for new elections in the country, said he was open to signing the invitation.
In his statement on Saturday, Sanders said it was a “sad day” for the US that Netanyahu was invited by leaders of both political parties. He reiterated that Israel has the right to defend itself following the October 7 Hamas attack in the southern part of the country, where around 1,200 Israelis were killed and around 250 were taken hostage. But the Vermont senator was sharply critical of Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip, criticizing it for the number of civilians killed, the damage to infrastructure and the destruction of the region’s healthcare system.
“Israel does not have the right to kill more than 34 thousand civilians and injure more than 80 thousand – 5% of the population of Gaza. It does not have the right to leave 19,000 children orphans. It does not have the right to displace 75% of the population of Gaza from their homes,” said Sanders.
“It has no right to annihilate Gaza’s healthcare system, leaving 26 hospitals out of service and killing more than 400 healthcare professionals,” he continued. “It has no right to bomb all 12 universities and 56 schools in Gaza, or deny 625,000 children in Gaza the opportunity for education.”
He also said that Israel has no right to block humanitarian aid and that the Jewish state violates “American and international law.”
“You have no right to sentence hundreds of thousands of children to death by starvation,” he said, while expressing his support for International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan, who is seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh. and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
“The ICC is right,” Sanders said. “Both people are involved in clear and outrageous violations of international law.”
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
