Sanders urges Biden to distance himself from Netanyahu and his ‘horrific’ war

US Senator Bernie Sanders calls on US President Joe Biden to put distance between himself and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that being pro-Israel does not mean that Washington needs to support the Israeli premier.

Sanders says that US support for the war could be one of a number of issues that could lead to progressive Democrat voters not casting their ballots for Biden in the November 2024 presidential elections.

“I hope that he [Biden] understands that you can be pro-Israel without supporting Netanyahu and the horrific war he is waging against the Palestinian people,” Sanders tells The Guardian.

When asked about the fact that he notably has not called for a full ceasefire in Israel’s war against the Hamas terror group, gaining the ire of his progressive colleagues, and whether it could cause splits in his wing of the party, Sanders says: “I think, at the end of the day, we’ll be alright.”

Sanders has said that a permanent ceasefire could lead to Hamas repeating the terror onslaught of October 7.

A poll published last month indicated that most Americans were opposed to Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war. The New York Times/Siena College poll found that 57% of Americans disapprove, 33% approve, and the rest did not know.

The poll also found a split between younger voters and older ones. The poll found that among people between 18 and 29 years old, nearly three-quarters disapproved of the way Biden is handling the conflict.

Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on October 7, killing some 1,200 people in Israel, most of them civilians, amid horrifying acts of brutality and sexual violence.

Around 240 others taken were hostage, of which 136 remain in captivity in Gaza.