Sen. Bernie Sanders is knocking the proposed funding for Israel within the $110 billion emergency support bundle that the chamber weighed, Tuesday in a letter to his colleagues.
“At a time when some 16,000 Palestinians have been killed in the last two months, two thirds of whom are women and children, and more than 40,000 have been injured… No, I do not think we should be appropriating $10.1 billion for the right-wing, extremist Netanyahu government to continue its current military strategy,” he wrote.
The Senate is predicted to vote Wednesday on the $110 billion invoice that features cash for Ukraine, Taiwan, Israel, and humanitarian support for Gaza.
Mr. Sanders, Vermont impartial, mentioned the invoice doesn’t do sufficient for the American folks.
“I am deeply concerned that this legislation has no investments to address the emergency needs of working families in the United States — 60% of whom are living paycheck to paycheck,” he wrote. “Let’s be clear: it is not only foreign countries that face emergencies. We face enormous crises in this country right now in terms of child care, primary health care, housing, and much more. The American people want action on these vitally important issues.”
Mr. Sanders, probably the most well-known Jewish members of Congress, has constantly been vital of Israel’s retaliatory actions in the direction of Hamas for the reason that terrorist group launched its shock assault on Israel on Oct. 7.
He has referred to as for circumstances on the U.S. support to Israel, a proposal which acquired criticism from different lawmakers.
He pressured that “Israel has an absolute right to defend itself [but] it does not, however, have the right to wage all-out war against innocent men, women, and children who had nothing to do with the Hamas attack.”
“I believe that it would be absolutely irresponsible to provide an additional $10.1 billion in unconditional military aid that will allow the Netanyahu government to continue its current inhumane military approach,” he wrote.
He referred to as on Israel to vary its counterattack strategy to reduce the variety of civilians affected, together with permitting displaced Palestinians to return to their properties. He additionally referred to as on Israel to finish the killings of Palestinians within the West Bank and put a freeze on new settlements there, together with agreeing to not having long-term occupations in Gaza, and be open to conversations about discovering a two-state answer.
