Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), an outspoken critic of Israel and the war with Hamas in Gaza that came as a response to the terrorist atrocities against civilians in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s arrival in Washington, D.C., to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump “a shameful day in America.”
“Today, a war criminal under indictment from the ICC will be welcomed to the White House,” he wrote, referencing the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court in The Hague against Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant. Both were accused of “war crimes,” though Israel is not a state party to the court.
Sanders said that “Trump, like Biden before him, has aided and abetted the extremist Netanyahu government as it has systematically killed and starved civilians in Gaza.”
The Jewish legislator has been an outspoken critic of Israeli policy during the war effort, alleging that the Israel Defense Forces are committing “genocide” against the Palestinian people, citing casualty numbers from the Gaza Ministry of Health, which Hamas controls.
In March, Sanders introduced resolutions aimed at blocking $9 billion in arms sales to Israel. Both were voted down by the Senate in April.
