Bernie Sanders: Benjamin Netanyahu’s military response to Gaza turning Israel into ‘pariah’

Sen. Bernard Sanders is warning that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approach toward destroying Hamas in Gaza has turned the tiny Jewish nation into “almost a pariah state.“

The Vermont socialist, who is Jewish, said he believes in Israel being a Jewish state, but that the actions of Mr. Netanyahu and the current government are ruining its global image.

“What Netanyahu has done, what the Israeli government has done, has become almost a pariah state,” Mr. Sanders said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” ‘I fear very much Israel now is looked in a very, very unfavorable light by people all over the world.”

Mr. Netanyahu’s latest push has been for the military to assume control of Gaza City, putting him at odds with some of Israel’s current and former military leaders who fear its troops are getting burned out after two years of war, and that it will further tarnish Israel’s standing.

The focus on Gaza City comes nearly two years after Hamas launched a brutal attack on Israeli civilians that left around 1,200 people dead and over 250 more taken hostage.

The death toll from the Israeli response is around 60,000, including 18,000 children, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.

For his part, Mr. Sanders has pushed Congress to block the sale of U.S. weapons to Israel, and an increasing number of lawmakers have started to air concerns about death and starvation in Gaza.

“Israel had a right, of course, to defend itself against the terrible terrorist attack from Hamas, but what they have done since then is gone to war against the entire Palestinian people,” Mr. Sanders said on CNN.

“Hamas is a terrible terrorist organization and I certainly hope they have no future in a new Gaza or Palestine, but the fault right now is 100% on the Netanyahu government which has waged an all-out war,” Mr. Sanders said.

Mr. Sanders, a standard-bearer for U.S. progressives who long have been critical of Israel, said he also believes Republican voters are starting to rethink U.S. support for Mr. Netanyahu.