Bernie Sanders has called for an end to ‘US military aid to Israel’ as the tensions in the Middle East continue.
The senator, who has been a long-term critic of the Israeli government, has urged Donald Trump to revoke funding and weapon supplies to Benjamin Netanyahu after 130 Gazans were killed over the weekend.
It comes amid the US president admitting he was caught by surprise by Israeli actions in Gaza and Syria and in both instances he phoned Netanyahu in a bid to “rectify” matters, according to the White House.
Writing on X, Sanders said: “130 people were killed and more than 1,000 wounded in Gaza this weekend. People are starving.
“Many were shot by the Israeli military while simply trying to get food. This is completely insane and unacceptable.
“No more U.S. military aid to Israel.”
Last Thursday, a strike on Gaza’s only Catholic Church drew a quickly critical reaction from Trump, phoning Netanyahu to voice his displeasure. He was also negative about attacks in the Syrian capital Damascus.
“The president enjoys a good working relationship with Bibi Netanyahu, and stays in frequent communication with him. He was caught off guard by the bombing in Syria and also the bombing of a Catholic Church in Gaza,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt told journalists in Washington DC on Monday.
“In both accounts, the president quickly called the prime minister to rectify those situations,” she confirmed.
Bernie Sanders slammed Benjamin Netanyahu on his visit to the White House to meet Donald Trump, earlier this month.
The Israeli prime minister visited the president in the Oval Office in the leaders’ first face to face meeting since Trump launched the attacks on Iran.
But, Sanders held nothing back, calling the leader an “extremist” who has “systematically killed and starved civilians in Gaza”.
Writing on X, he said: “Today, a war criminal under indictment from the ICC will be welcomed to the White House.
“Trump, like Biden before him, has aided and abetted the extremist Netanyahu government as it has systematically killed and starved civilians in Gaza.
“It is a shameful day in America.”