Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said he “will not attend” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech after Republican and Democratic lawmakers invited him to speak to a “joint session of Congress.”
Sanders is press release On Saturday, he called Netanyahu a “war criminal” and said he “should not be invited to address a joint session of Parliament.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) wrote a letter to Netanyahu on Friday urging him to address a “joint session of Congress.”
Netanyahu accepted the invitation and said he was “thrilled by the honor of presenting before the American people and representatives of the entire world the truth of our just war against those who seek to kill us.” according to of The Israel Times.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (not pictured) speak to media after a meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, on March 16, 2023. Netanyahu’s one-day visit to Berlin has been accompanied by protests, including by people angered by Israeli policies towards the Palestinians and critical of new Israeli legislation supported by Netanyahu that would weaken Israel’s independence and the power of its Supreme Court, effectively curtailing Israel’s democracy. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
“It is a very sad day for our country that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted an invitation from leaders of both parties to address a joint session of the United States Congress,” Sanders said in a statement.
Sanders acknowledged that Israel has the “right to defend itself” against the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages, but added that “this attack does not and will not give Israel the right to wage war against the entire Palestinian people.”
Sanders also noted that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has announced that it is seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant and three Hamas leaders.
“The ICC recently announced that it is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar,” Sanders said in a statement. “The ICC is correct: both men are committing clear and outrageous violations of international law.”
It is a very sad day for our country that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been invited by leaders of both parties to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress.
Netanyahu is a war criminal. I will never attend. pic.twitter.com/0tQgVGv3qa
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) June 1, 2024
“Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal,” Sanders continued. “He should not be invited to address a joint session of Congress, and I certainly will not attend.”
Sanders has criticized Israel’s ongoing military offensive against Hamas, which the United States has designated a terrorist organization, following attacks on Israel.
In early May, NBC Meet the PressSanders said Israel was violating international law and should not receive “another nickel” in foreign aid from the United States.
Asked in an interview with CNN what exactly Israel should do to eliminate Hamas, Sanders said it was a “difficult question” and that Israel could not “destroy everyone” in Gaza.
