Sanders Calls to Cut Off Funding to Israel

(BrightPress.org) – One-time presidential contender and famous left-leaning Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, wants Congress to cease funding the Israeli war effort calling Israel’s strikes on Gaza “immoral” and “grossly disproportionate” on Tuesday, January 2nd.

The invasion of Gaza and military activities are in response to a Hamas attack on Israel that occurred on October 7th which resulted in the deaths of 1200 Israelis as well as international civilians.

The dead included roughly 350 Israeli military and police who were killed during the fighting. It’s unknown how many of the dead were killed by Israeli friendly fire, but the number is not zero.

While Sanders acknowledged that the current flare-up in the conflict was triggered by Hamas’s “barbaric attack,” he chastised the Israeli response as being disproportionate, immoral, and a violation of international law. He added that the Israeli military is fueled by American military hardware, including U.S.-manufactured bombs, artillery, and missiles.

He cited the current Palestinian death toll of 22,000 dead as indicative of the extent of the carnage and bloodshed. He said that two-thirds of the dead were women and children.

Sanders added that nearly 60,000 Palestinians have been injured, some severely and permanently, while 85% of those living in Gaza have been forced out of their homes.

Sanders emphasized that Congress should refuse to send another $10 billion aid package, the current proposal is part of a larger emergency funding bill that would also approve funding for border security, Ukraine, and U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific region currently coping with Chinese aggression.

Sanders called Netanyahu’s regime “right-wing” and “extremist” in prior comments made on December 4th. In a December 12th letter to Biden, he further called the attack on Gaza “a mass atrocity.” He pointed out we can help the Israelis defend themselves without funding a war on the Palestinian civilian population.

Sanders said that the U.S. had already given Israel tens of thousands of bombs and artillery shells which have been used in Gaza, and added that any continued support of the war effort would be irresponsible.