Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) railed against the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, saying that he hopes Israel removes him as their leader.
“This is a horrendously complex issue,” Sanders said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “You got a right wing government in Israel, which is racist. And the people by the way, but the good news is last poll, I saw only 18 percent of the people of Israel want Netanyahu to stay in office. I hope they get rid of him. I hope they put in a government, which understands the severity of the crisis.”
Sanders has been outspoken about preventing civilian deaths in the ongoing fighting between Israel and Hamas — a militant group that launched a deadly surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, prompting Israel to declare war on the organization. He again urged Israel to halt the bombing on Gaza, saying that there must be a “better way” to eliminate Hamas, which the United States designates as a terrorist organization.
“But there got to be a better way than killing thousands of men, women and children. So once again, the immediate concern is you gotta have a pause in the bombing. You got to take care of immediate disaster,” Sanders said.
He also said that Netanyahu’s government is “trying to make it impossible for a two-state solution” in the West Bank.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Israel on Friday to press Netanyahu to agree to a “humanitarian pause” in the fighting to allow for aid to get into the enclave, which Israel has bombarded with airstrikes in its effort to eliminate Hamas. Netanyahu, however, resisted the call.
The Gaza Health Ministry said that the Palestinian death toll reached 9,700 as of Sunday, including thousands more injured. More than 1,400 Israels were killed in the Oct. 7 attack. Hamas also took more than 200 people as hostages, the majority of which it is still holding.
