It has been noted that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) did not hold back on Friday night when speaking about U.S. policy toward Israel as it continues its military response to the Oct. 7 terror attacks via Mediate.
Israel invaded Gaza in an operation that resulted in the deaths of over 30,000 Palestinians and the displacement of 85% of the Gaza population, following the murder of 1,200 Israelis by Hamas and the kidnapping of over 200 more.
Party members are putting more and more pressure on President Joe Biden, claiming he must do more than just voice his hope that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will adopt a less harmful stance. The United States has been providing Israel with armaments; on two occasions, Biden made this possible by circumventing Congress. By using his veto authority at the UN Security Council, Biden has protected Israel diplomatically.
Sanders appeared on Friday’s Alex Wagner Tonight on MSNBC to offer his thoughts.
“We are talking about hundreds of thousands of children facing starvation,” the senator said. “We’re talking about Israeli bombs making it impossible for humanitarian aid to get to places that it is needed, the the borders are being blockaded and aid is unable to get through. So I think what the president is doing is an important step forward, but we need to do more. We need to tell Netanyahu and his right-wing government that they’re gonna have to open those borders.”
On Friday, Biden said the U.S. would begin air-dropping aid into Gaza. Israel is restricting the flow of humanitarian assistance in what the U.N. secretary-general has called a form of “collective punishment” against Palestinians.
Sanders noted his recent vote against an aid package for Israel, prompting Alex Wagner to juxtapose the continued flow of aid to Israel while the U.S. will air-drop aid to the territory it has invaded:
SANDERS: We need a new approach to Israel. For many, many years, we have given them a lot of money. Recently there was a vote. I voted against it, to give them another $14 billion. My view, not another nickel for Netanyahu’s government if he’s gonna continue this wholesale slaughter of the Palestinian people.
WAGNER: That’s the thing I can’t really reconcile, right? We’re air-dropping aid at the same time as the U.S. is sending weapons of war over to Israel. I mean, how do you reconcile that? Is that right hand not talking to the left hand?
SANDERS: You can’t reconcile it. It’s totally absurd. And on top of that, look, the airdrops are very important. But that is not as important as opening up the borders because you’re gonna need hundreds of hundreds of trucks every single day. And our message to Netanyahu, you know what? You’re not gonna get another nickel unless you open those borders and prevent the starvation, which is imminent.
Sanders went on to say, “It is an unprecedented disaster, Alex. I mean, it makes my stomach turn.”
