‘Not only a war criminal, but also a liar:’ Sanders slams Netanyahu’s US Congress address

American senator Bernie Sanders has censured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to the US Congress, saying he is not only committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip but also lying about the situation in the Palestinian territory.

In an X post on Wednesday, Sanders, an independent of Vermont who caucuses with the Democrats, said, “Netanyahu is not only a war criminal. He is a liar.”

“All humanitarian organizations agree: Tens of thousands of children face starvation because his extremist government continues to block aid,” he added. “Israelis want him out of office. So he came to Congress to campaign.”

The remarks came after Netanyahu defended Israel’s genocidal aggression against Gaza before a joint meeting of Congress amid massive protests condemning the regime’s war crimes against the Palestinian people.

The participants at the demonstrations challenged the premier’s visit to the US at a time when the International Criminal Court (ICC) is seeking arrest warrants for him and other Israeli officials over war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Netanyahu has also faced protests in the occupied territories over his refusal to end the bloody Gaza onslaught and inability to secure the release of Israeli captives, with polls showing that more than 70 percent of Israelis want him to resign.

During his Wednesday address, however, Netanyahu brushed aside humanitarian concerns for Gaza, denied that Israel was blocking aid to Palestinians and appealed to the US to fast-track weapons to the occupying regime.

In Congress, Netanyahu gets applause; but outside, pro-Palestinians reaffirm reality

Demonstrators with signs reading, “Arrest Netanyahu” and “End all US aid to Israel” chanted, “Free, free Palestine!”

Sanders was among members of Congress who boycotted Netanyahu's speech.

Addressing the US Senate on Tuesday, Sanders said Israel’s Gaza offensive has “trampled on international law, on American law, and on basic human values.” 

He also reminded senators of the ongoing hunger, destruction to housing and damage done to Gaza’s health and educational systems.

He further described the situation in Gaza as “one of the worst disasters in modern history,” which has been aided and abetted by “US taxpayer dollars and weapons.”

“Netanyahu is a right-wing extremist and a war criminal who has devoted his career to killing the prospects for a two-state solution and lasting peace. He should not be welcome in the United States Congress,” Sanders asserted.

Sanders said Netanyahu's policies in Gaza and the West Bank should be "roundly condemned, and his right-wing extremist administration "should not receive another nickel of US taxpayer funding.”

Israel unleashed its brutal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, after the Hamas resistance group carried out its historic operation against the usurping entity in retaliation for the regime’s intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the Tel Aviv regime has so far killed at least 39,145 Palestinians, mostly women, and children, in Gaza, and injured 90,257 others.

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