Bernie Sanders Unleashes Fiery Comeback To Netanyahu's Antisemitism Remarks

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) let loose a scathing statement this week in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s accusation that protests at United States universities against Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza are “antisemitic.”

Hilary Hanson
Sat, April 27, 2024


“Mr. Netanyahu, antisemitism is a vile and disgusting form of bigotry that has done unspeakable harm to many millions of people,′ Sanders said in a video posted to X on Thursday.



The senator implored the prime minister to “not insult the intelligence of the American people” in an attempt to “distract” them from Israel’s “immoral and illegal war policies.”

Israel’s offensive on Gaza, which began after militant group Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack killed at least 1,200 Israelis and took more than 100 people hostage, has now left an estimated 34,000 Palestinians dead. UN Women, the United Nations organization for gender equality, reported in February that 70% of Palestinians killed at that time were women and children.

The senator said it “is not antisemitic” to note that Israel’s military operation has left more than half the population of Gaza homeless, “obliterated” the Palestinian territory’s water and electric infrastructure and “annihilated” its health care system.

Sanders, who is Jewish, concluded, “It is not antisemitic to hold you accountable for your actions.”

The video and an accompanying written statement came the day after Netanyahu called the recent upswell of antiwar protests at American college campuses “horrific,” characterizing them as “antisemitic mobs.”

The student protesters are broadly calling for the U.S. to stop sending military aid to Israel and for educational institutions to divest financially from Israel.

Several instances of anti-Jewish remarks or inflammatory signs have gone viral amid the protests, though multiple student organizations behind the demonstrations have condemned such incidents.

“At universities across the nation, our movement is united in valuing every human life,” said a statement from one such group, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, per ABC News.