Bernie Sanders condemns speech to Congress by ‘war criminal’ Netanyahu

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The Vermont senator Bernie Sanders has condemned Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's upcoming address to the US Congress, calling him a "war criminal" presiding over a "rightwing extremist government".

Sanders delivered his remarks on the Senate floor on Tuesday as Congress expects Netanyahu to give a speech to Congress on Wednesday afternoon. The speech comes after an underwhelming arrival to the US, just after President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from November's elections.

"Tomorrow will be unique in bringing Prime Minister Netanyahu to address a joint meeting of Congress," said Sanders on Tuesday. "It will be the first time in American history that a war criminal has been given that honor."

Sanders said of Netanyahu: "He should not be welcome in the United States Congress."

Several Democratic lawmakers were planning to boycott the speech on Wednesday.

Kamala Harris, the Democratic party's presumptive presidential nominee, will not be attending because of a scheduling conflict, according to an aide.

Netanyahu is slated to meet with the House speaker, Mike Johnson, and the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, before the speech.

Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland will oversee the event, according to the New York Times. Cardin, an orthodox Jew, has voiced support for Israel in the months since the attacks on 7 October and amid Israel's war in Gaza.

Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, is among the lawmakers who plan to boycott Netanyahu's speech on Wednesday afternoon, reminding senators of the ongoing hunger, destruction to housing and damage done to Gaza's health and educational system.

Israel's war on Gaza has "trampled on international law, on American law, and on basic human values", Sanders said.

The UN has reported a death toll of more than 36,000 Palestinians as of 31 May.

"His [Netanyahu's] policies in Gaza and the West Bank and his refusal to support a two-state solution should be roundly condemned," Sanders said in a statement on Monday. "In my view, his rightwing, extremist government should not receive another nickel of US taxpayer support to continue the inhumane destruction of Gaza."

"Every university has been bombed, and 88% of all school buildings have been damaged," said Sanders. "And now, because of the ongoing restrictions on humanitarian aid, some 495,000 people face catastrophic levels of food insecurity - in other words, they are starving."

Representative Jerry Nadler of New York said he would attend Wednesday's speech, but still lashed out against the Israeli prime minister, calling him the "worst leader in Jewish history".

"Tomorrow's address is the next step in a long line of manipulative bad-faith efforts by Republicans to further politicize the US-Israel relationship for partisan gain and is a cynical stunt by Netanyahu aimed at aiding his own desperate political standing at home," said Nadler.

The invitation was originally extended by the speaker Johnson, and endorsed by Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House minority leader, and Schumer, despite the latter's earlier denunciation of Netanyahu and call for fresh Israeli elections.

Sanders had previously supported Israel's right to defend itself after the 7 October attacks, also lashing out against Hamas.

"Netanyahu's extreme rightwing government has, since that attack, waged what amounts to total war against the entire Palestinian people," Sanders said in the chamber on Tuesday.

In January, Sanders sponsored an unsuccessful Senate bill to make US aid to Israel conditional on its observance of human rights and international law.

"This invitation to Netanyahu is a disgrace and something that we will look back on with regret," Sanders said. "With this invitation, it will be impossible, with a straight face, for the United States to lecture any country on Earth about human rights and human dignity."