Bernie Sanders cautions Biden and dissatisfied youth on Israel

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is offering some unsolicited advice to President Joe Biden and a subtle reality check for young progressives who are frustrated with U.S. policy toward Israel.

The Vermont independent, who caucuses with Democrats, is seeking to temper liberals’ demands of the president by reminding them of the Republican alternative while urging Biden to rethink his strong allied stance toward Israel.

In a more than 20-minute Senate floor speech Wednesday evening, Sanders gave a passionate defense of pro-Palestinian protests at colleges across the country but also condemned those that have turned violent and antisemitic. He said the anger should be directed toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“It is not antisemitic to hold Netanyahu and his government accountable for their actions,” said Sanders, who is Jewish. “That is not antisemitic. That is precisely what we should be doing. Because among other things, we are the government in the world that has supplied over a period of years, and most recently, billions and billions of dollars to Netanyahu in order for him to continue his horrific war against the Palestinian people.”

In an interview with USA Today, Sanders said the “real-world” alternative to Biden is someone Democrats would be even more frustrated with: Donald Trump.

“I would hope that most of the young people and protesters do not want to see Donald Trump, who is a racist, a sexist, a homophobe who doesn’t acknowledge the reality of climate change, become elected president of the United States,” he said.

Sanders also had some choice advice for what he would like Biden to tell Netanyahu in the face of the high number of civilian casualties and the humanitarian disaster in Gaza. After months of delay, Congress passed a foreign aid bill in April that included roughly $26 billion in military aid for Israel and humanitarian relief for civilians in Gaza.

“The president needs to tell Netanyahu, ‘You’re not going to get a nickel unless there is a huge and significant increase in humanitarian aid, that the potential of famine is ended tomorrow,’” Sanders told the outlet. “‘You stop the terrible actions of the settlers on the West Bank,’ and that we begin serious discussion about a two-state solution. ‘If you want the money, these are the things you got to do.’”

Biden, giving his first direct remarks on the recent unrest at higher education institutions, said Thursday that there is “the right to protest but not the right to cause chaos.” He defended both peaceful protests and the rule of law.

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“Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations — none of this is a peaceful protest,” Biden said. “Threatening people, intimidating people, instilling fear in people is not a peaceful protest. It’s against the law.”

Biden added that the protests have not made him reconsider his policies toward the conflict and that he does not believe the National Guard should intervene on campuses.