Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) wrote an essay in the New York Times this week titled “Justice for the Palestinians and Security for Israel.”
His ideas are as old and tired as those of Senator Sanders himself and are as likely to succeed as his previous presidential bids.
Senator Sanders acknowledges: “I don’t have all the answers.” In fact, he doesn’t have any. Just the calcified contours of a terrorist Palestinian state lubricated by more American funding, some taken from money historically provided to Israel.
Senator Sanders begins by hiding the most salient facts.
It acknowledges the murder of 1,200 innocent Israelis by Hamas, but omits any mention of the rape, torture and mutilation that these and other poor Israelis suffered, an inconvenient fact, no doubt, in attesting to the Palestinian ability to live in peace.
Nor does he mention that Hamas’s brutalization of Israeli civilians has now made it overwhelmingly the most popular political organization among the Palestinian people.
It also accepts as fact the death toll attributed by the Hamas-controlled “Gaza Ministry of Health,” and falsely attributes those deaths to “indiscriminate shelling” by the Israel Defense Forces.
Ambassador David Friedman dismisses Senator Bernie Sanders’ ideas for Middle East peace. NurPhoto via Getty Images
I couldn’t help but remember an unpleasant conversation I had with Senator Sanders in 2016 about the topic.
After he complained bitterly about Israeli soldiers attacking non-military sites (after warning civilians to leave), I asked him if he could identify any less lethal means for Israel to defend itself against the Hamas terrorists hiding behind of civilians.
He couldn’t then and he can’t now.
Senator Sanders has called for a “prolonged humanitarian pause” in Gaza.Getty Images
But what is most worrying about his vision is Senator Sanders’ strategy of overfunding the Palestinians and underfunding Israel.
In other words, take American tax dollars and give more to corrupt organizations that oppress their own people, pay incentives for terrorists to kill Jews, and educate young people to hate Israelis.
And then give less to one of the United States’ most important allies and the only democracy in the Middle East.
Israel has been at war with Hamas since the group launched a terrorist attack that killed 1,200 civilians on October 7.ZUMAPRESS.com
It barely conceals the fact that this “strategy” is designed to reign in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom Sanders clearly despises and refers to as “indicted for corruption.”
His meddling in Israel’s internal affairs is as inappropriate as Israel asking why Sanders owns three houses on a government salary.
The Israeli people will decide whether they want to elect a new leadership after the war. The United States should respect their democratic process and help them defeat the existential threat posed by today’s Nazis.
For a US senator to side with a sworn enemy of the United States and Israel is inappropriate for his high position.
David M. Friedman served as the United States Ambassador to Israel from 2017 to 2021. He is the founder of the Friedman Center for Peace Through Strength.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn