From Bernie Sanders accuses Israel of ‘genocide’ in Gaza, the first US senator to do so
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US Senator Bernie Sander speaks during a hearing with the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on September 17, 2025, in Washington. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images/AFP)
US Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont describes Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza as “genocide,” becoming the first United States senator to make such a charge against the Jewish state.
While Sanders has led efforts in the Senate to block the sale of US bombs and firearms to Israel, he had previously stopped short of describing the war as a “genocide,” a charge that Israeli leaders have rejected as antisemitic “blood libel.”
But in a statement titled “It’s a genocide,” Sanders declares “the conclusion is inescapable.”
“Having named it a genocide, we must use every ounce of our leverage to demand an immediate ceasefire,” says Sanders.
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