Bernie Sanders says Joe Biden’s warning to Benjamin Netanyahu is ‘a good step forward’ but calls for ‘even more’

Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont) said in an interview Wednesday that President Biden’s warning to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a “good step forward,” but he said he expected “more” from the president going forward. He said he was looking forward to it.

“Well, I think it’s good progress. I think we have to do more,” Sanders told CNN’s Caitlan Collins in an interview Wednesday. “The bottom line is, Kaitlan, what Prime Minister Netanyahu did in Gaza was unconscionable.”

“In my opinion, Prime Minister Netanyahu should not have received a dime as long as he continues to wage this incredibly destructive war. I’m glad the president is starting to move in that direction,” Sanders added. .

Sanders’ remarks follow Biden warned in previous interview He said he would stop supplying bombs, artillery shells and other offensive weapons to Israel if the Israeli military launches an invasion of Rafah, drawing a clear line amid protests over the Gaza conflict.

“If they go into Rafah, they haven’t gone into Rafah yet, but even if they go into Rafah, they have historically used to deal with Rafah, to deal with cities. I’ve made it clear that I won’t supply the weapons that have been used. I’m going to address that issue,” Biden said earlier.

The White House has urged Israel not to send troops to Rafah without a clear plan to safely evacuate civilians, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been adamant about plans to destroy Hamas, saying that he must not send troops to Rafah to do so. They say they need to go after a Hamas battalion, tunnel system, and its leaders. And the hostages held there.

Sanders said he understood the difficulty of targeting Hamas, but said, “The United States should not be complicit in what’s going on there.”

“It’s a difficult question. Hamas is a very difficult enemy to fight. They’re a terrorist group. They use civilian shields. That’s a fact,” Sanders said. When asked about people asking how Israel should act if it were to hide in the country, he replied: “But look, what the United States cannot and must not be a part of is literally the destruction of all of Gaza. I mean infrastructure, education, health systems destroyed, so many women and children killed. It was.”

“Yes, we have to go after Hamas. But no, we can’t continue to do this…we will literally almost destroy the entire population of the region,” he added.