Bernie Sanders has slammed Benjamin Netanyahu amid his visit to the White House to meet Donald Trump.
The Israeli prime minister visited the president in Washington DC on Monday 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.”
It comes as Netanyahu told journalists on Monday that America and Israel were working with other countries who would give Palestinians “a better future” and suggested Gazans could move elsewhere.
“If people want to stay, they can stay, but if they want to leave, they should be able to leave,” he added.
Trump said: “We’ve had great cooperation from… surrounding countries, great cooperation from every single one of them. So something good will happen.”
Senator Sanders has been a long-time critic of Israel and has regularly commented on the situation in the Middle East.
Last year, he said: “Since October 7, there has not been a day that goes by that I am not deeply saddened and distressed by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. To see innocent young people slaughtered at a music festival, children and elderly people kidnapped, and then, thousands of civilians killed, including entire families being wiped out and thousands of children dead, torments me and millions of others who are watching this conflict unfold.
“But we cannot look away.
“I wish there was a simple solution to this conflict. There isn’t. Non-binding resolutions that Congress won’t pass can’t do that. The issue now is to act decisively to end the indiscriminate bombing by Israel, which has caused the deaths of an estimated 12,000 people, and secure a significant humanitarian pause so that the massive humanitarian aid that is needed – food, water, medicine, and fuel – can get into Gaza and save lives.”