In a Senate speech, Bernie Sanders called Gaza’s starvation a U.S.-backed atrocity, branded Netanyahu a “disgusting liar,” and demanded an end to arms sales. Washington faces a moral reckoning it can no longer postpone.
In an era when most U.S. politicians mumble through platitudes about the Middle East, Bernie Sanders has chosen the opposite strategy: confrontation. His recent speeches on the Gaza war have cut through Washington’s double-speak, demanding accountability not only from Israel’s leadership but also from the United States itself.
“No food, no water, no medicine”
On the Senate floor in May 2025, Sanders laid out the stark reality: “68 days and still no humanitarian aid into Gaza. No food, no water, no medicine, no fuel.”
He continued: “Starving children to death as a weapon of war is a clear violation of the Geneva Convention, the Foreign Assistance Act, and basic human decency. Civilized people do not starve children to death.”
At least 65,000 children now show symptoms of malnutrition, dozens have already starved to death, and UNICEF has warned the situation is “getting worse every day.”
Using the law as leverage
Sanders has gone beyond speeches. In July 2025 he forced Senate votes on two Joint Resolutions of Disapproval to block offensive weapons transfers to Israel—a rare procedural move. He invoked the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act, which prohibits aid to governments obstructing humanitarian relief.
“This debate is over whether or not the United States of America will have any moral credibility on the international scene. Whether or not we will be able, with a straight face, to condemn other countries who commit barbaric acts if we don’t stand up tonight.”
Calling Netanyahu what others won’t
Sanders’ most viral moment came when he branded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “disgusting liar” after Netanyahu denied that Gaza’s children were starving. He reinforced: “It is not antisemitic to hold you accountable.”
A ledger of destruction
- 60,000 Palestinians killed and 143,000 wounded — 10% of Gaza’s population.
- 18,000 children dead, including 12,000 under the age of 12.
- 3,000 children amputated.
- 70% of Gaza’s structures destroyed, including 92% of homes.
“This is not an effort to win a war; this is an effort to destroy a people.”
The charge of complicity
At the heart of Sanders’ campaign is a blunt accusation: that Washington isn’t merely a bystander—it’s an accomplice. Every billion-dollar arms transfer, every vote to shrug off U.S. law, makes America co-author of Gaza’s destruction.
“What the Netanyahu government has done is wage an all-out, illegal, immoral and horrific war of annihilation against the Palestinian people. And the United States is enabling it.”
Principled or polarizing?
Critics call Sanders’ speeches too strident, too polarizing for a conflict tangled in decades of history. But that’s the point: he isn’t trying to add another footnote of nuance. He’s ringing an alarm. Hospitals in rubble, children starving—these aren’t “complexities,” they’re crimes.
Why this speech matters
- Plain language: “No aid, no excuses.”
- Concrete action: Senate votes to block arms sales.
- Legal grounding: U.S. and international law violations laid bare.
- Moral clarity: Netanyahu confronted directly.
- Political risk: Sanders stands almost alone, yet unyielding.
Sanders’ Gaza speeches are not policy white papers. They are alarms—meant to ring so loud that silence becomes untenable. Whether Washington listens may define how history records U.S. democracy’s role in this war.
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Disclaimer: This article is based on prepared remarks from Senator Bernie Sanders’ official Senate website (May 8 and July 30, 2025), contemporaneous reporting by The Guardian and News.com.au, and the public Congressional record. All quotations are taken directly from published sources. Citizen of Europe provides fact-checked reporting but does not claim to represent Senator Sanders or any government body.
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