Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) praised President Biden’s decision to halt offensive weapons transfers to Israel and urged the U.S. to exert maximum pressure for a ceasefire.
Sen. Sanders said in a statement provided to PoliticusUSA, “Given the unprecedented humanitarian disaster that Netanyahu’s war has created in Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of children face starvation, President Biden is absolutely right to halt bomb delivery to this extreme, right-wing Israeli government. But this must be a first step. The U.S. must now use ALL its leverage to demand an immediate ceasefire, the end of the attacks on Rafah, and the immediate delivery of massive amounts of humanitarian aid to people living in desperation. Our leverage is clear. Over the years, the United States has provided tens of billions of dollars in military aid to Israel. We can no longer be complicit in Netanyahu’s horrific war against the Palestinian people.”
The Biden administration has tried to walk the line between supporting Israel’s operation to liberate hostages while trying to urge Netanyahu to avoid harming the innocent Palestinian people. Netanyahu has chosen a war of aggression against the people of Gaza, and the Biden administration is acting appropriately.
Sen. Sanders was correct. The U.S. should put maximum pressure on Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire.
The administration should have made this decision weeks or months ago. Now that they have arrived at this point, it is time to take the next step and urge Israel to come to the table and negotiate peace.
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