Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont) on Sunday criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for how he is running the country in the midst of a war with the extremist group Hamas.
Sanders has repeatedly called on the United States to halt military aid to Israel, citing the humanitarian crisis that has been unfolding in the Gaza Strip for months. He renewed his call for an end to funding for Israel on Sunday's “Face the Nation” on CBS.
“Each year, we have provided billions of dollars in military aid to the Israeli government. We now have a right-wing extremist government under Prime Minister Netanyahu. We plan to provide an additional $10 billion in unrestricted military aid. “There is,” he said.
“All I can say to Prime Minister Netanyahu is please stop the genocide and allow the massive amount of humanitarian aid that is needed to feed the children. Please, please, please. Oh, but by the way, if you do that… If we don't, another $10 billion will be made available to continue the war,” he added.
CBS' Margaret Brennan asked Sanders if he stands by his view that a complete cease-fire with Hamas is unrealistic.
“Look, what you have, what you need now is a ceasefire tomorrow so that trucks and tons of humanitarian aid can arrive to feed the hungry. But Hamas is dedicated to destroying Israel. You have a Netanyahu government that is dedicated to… [destroying] Hamas,” he said.
“At the end of the day, I don’t think the command can continue to run Gaza. And [the] The Netanyahu government cannot continue to rule Israel if we withdraw to bring peace to the region,” Sanders added.
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