Senator Bernie Sanders blasts Netanyahu’s Gaza policies, accuses Israel of waging war on “the entire Palestinian people,” and renews calls to block US arms transfers.
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) unleashed a fresh wave of criticism against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, warning that Israel’s current policies are pushing it toward “almost a pariah state” in the eyes of the world.
Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union”, Sanders was pressed on whether he supports Israel as a Jewish state. While affirming Israel’s right to exist as such, he condemned Netanyahu’s recent moves — particularly efforts to cement control over the Gaza Strip — as deeply damaging to Israel’s global standing.
“What Netanyahu has done, what the Israeli government has done, is become almost a pariah state,” Sanders said. “I fear very much that Israel is now looked at in a very unfavorable light by people all over the world — not just in the United States.”
Sanders acknowledged Israel’s right to defend itself following the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led massacre, but accused Netanyahu’s government of escalating the conflict into a campaign against “the entire Palestinian people.”
He went further, blaming Israel alone for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza:
“It is not Hamas. Hamas is a terrible terrorist organization … but the fault right now is 100 percent on the Netanyahu government.”
Sanders claimed that child starvation in Gaza stems from Israel’s blockade restricting food and aid — a blockade he says is directly responsible for the worsening humanitarian disaster.
The senator’s criticism is part of a sustained campaign against Israel’s war policy. He recently condemned Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, D.C., calling it “a shameful day in America” in light of the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes.
“Today, a war criminal under indictment from the ICC will be welcomed to the White House,” Sanders wrote on social media.
Although neither Israel nor the US are members of the ICC, Sanders has used the charges to intensify his push to block US arms transfers to Israel. His latest resolution — the third since late 2024 — was defeated in the Senate 27-70 in late July.
Despite repeated setbacks, Sanders has vowed to continue his effort, framing it as a moral imperative to halt what he views as US complicity in Israel’s Gaza war.
