PREPARED REMARKS: Sanders on Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Upcoming Speech

"We Should Not Invite a War Criminal to Address Congress"

WASHINGTON, July 23 - Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Tuesday night spoke on the floor of the U.S. Senate about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's upcoming address to a joint meeting of Congress and the ongoing, horrific humanitarian disaster in Gaza.

Sanders' remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below and can be watched live here:

M. President, tomorrow, Wednesday will be a unique moment in Congressional history.

Throughout the many years of our country, leaders from dozens of countries with all kinds of political backgrounds and persuasions have been invited to address a joint meeting of Congress.

To the best of my knowledge, however, tomorrow will be unique: in bringing Prime Minister Netanyahu to address a joint meeting of Congress, it will be the first time in American history that a war criminal has been given that honor.

Frankly, this invitation to Netanyahu is a disgrace and something that we will look back on with regret. 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.

M. President, as you well know, along with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and several others, Prime Minister Netanyahu has been credibly accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC). That court may soon issue arrest warrants for Sinwar and Netanyahu.

The case against Sinwar and his Hamas accomplices are clear. They were the organizers of the horrific October 7th terrorist attack on Israel that began this war and involved the mass murder of 1,200 innocent men, women, and children, the taking of hostages, and sexual violence. These war crimes are well-documented, and very few people would dispute the merits of these charges.

The ICC prosecutor's charges against Netanyahu are also well-founded. The charges focus on the starvation of civilians as a method of war, as well as intentional attacks against the civilian population. Specifically, the prosecutor says that Netanyahu is responsible for "depriving [civilians] of objects indispensable to their survival, including willfully impeding relief supplies as provided for under the Geneva Conventions."

A separate UN independent commission of inquiry likewise found that both Hamas and the Israeli military have committed war crimes since October 7th, leading to widespread civilian deaths. The commission said the Israeli military's "intentional use of heavy weapons with large destructive capacity in densely populated areas constitutes an intentional and direct attack on the civilian population, particularly affecting women and children."

M. President, I think we all agree that Israel had the right to defend itself against the horrific Hamas attack on October 7th. But Netanyahu's extreme right-wing government has, since that attack, waged what amounts to total war against the entire Palestinian people, making life unlivable in Gaza and killing tens of thousands. These actions have trampled on international law, on American law, and on basic human values.

M. President, I understand that the mass media and many of us in Congress have been preoccupied in recent weeks with the awful assassination attempt against former President Trump and the changes at the top of the Democratic presidential ticket.

But while all of this is going on, it is absolutely irresponsible for us to turn our backs on one of the worst humanitarian disasters in modern history, especially when that disaster has been aided and abetted by U.S. taxpayer dollars and weapons.

In other words, it's not just the Israeli government. It is us and our money and our weaponry as well.

M. President, let's be clear as to what's going on in Gaza. Since this war began, among a population of 2.2 million people, at least 39,000 Palestinians have been killed and 89,000 injured - sixty percent of whom are women, children, or elderly people. Most observers believe that death toll is much higher, because thousands of people remain buried under the mountains of rubble. Their bodies have not yet been recovered.

M. President, some 1.9 million people have been driven from their homes, 90% of the population. Take a deep breath. 90% of the population driven from their homes. The vast majority of these desperate and poor people have now been displaced not once, not twice - but in some cases four or five times - herded around like cattle. Just yesterday, Israel announced another evacuation order for Khan Younis, and 150,000 people were forced to flee on a moment's notice. Just yesterday.

M. President, when we talk about housing, it's not just that people have been displaced time and time again. More than 60 percent of Gaza's housing has been damaged or destroyed - including 221,000 housing units that have been completely destroyed. Where are these people going to go to if and when this war ever ends?

And with that housing destruction, more than one million people have been made permanently homeless. Entire neighborhoods have been wiped out. Today, more than a million Palestinians, almost half of the population of Gaza, are living in tents, trying to find shelter, trying to find protection from intense summer heat.

But M. President it is not just the housing that has been destroyed.

Gaza's civilian infrastructure has also been devastated. Water and sewage systems have been made inoperable. And the result: raw sewage is running through the streets, spreading disease, and there is very little clean water. Many roads are impassable, and there is virtually no electricity.

But it's not just housing and infrastructure that has been destroyed.

M. President, Gaza had twelve universities, schools of higher learning. Every single one of them has been bombed, and 88 percent of all school buildings have been damaged. In other words, under Mr. Netanyahu's leadership, the entire educational system in Gaza has been annihilated. In fact, 540 people have been killed while sheltering in UN schools.

But M. President it's not just the housing that's been destroyed. Not just the infrastructure of Gaza that has been destroyed. Not just the educational system which has been destroyed.

At a time when almost 90,000 people are dealing with war-related injuries in Gaza - including many, many children who've lost their arms and their legs, who are suffering all kinds of diseases - the healthcare system has been systematically obliterated. 21 of Gaza's 36 hospitals are completely out of service, and the remainder can only partially function. The World Health Organization has recorded more than 1,000 attacks on healthcare facilities since October 7th.

As a result, disease is spreading due to shortages of clean water, sanitation, and hygiene. Cases of hepatitis, dysentery, and other infections are on the rise. And cases of polio have now been detected. Malnourished women struggle to breastfeed their newborns, formula is inaccessible, and even when available cannot be used without reliable sources of clean water. So, the tiniest children and their mothers suffer as well.

But, M. President, it is not just the displacement of 1.9 million people, it's not just the mass destruction of housing, it's not just the obliteration of the infrastructure, it is not just the destruction of the educational system, it's not just the annihilation of the health care system in Gaza that we are seeing. It is worse than that.

And I hope that my colleagues who attend Mr. Netanyahu's remarks on Wednesday remember this as they rise, time and time again, to give him a standing ovation.

As a result of Israeli restrictions on humanitarian aid, people in Gaza are now starving to death.

So, remember when people stand up and applaud: children, women, innocent people in Gaza are now starving to death.

According to the best available research, drawing on leading experts from the UN and other aid organizations around the world, some 495,000 Palestinians face starvation. These groups estimate that more than 50,000 children require treatment for acute malnutrition and are at risk of starving to death. At least 30 children - documented cases, and I suspect it's a lot higher number than that - have starved to death.

So, as you stand up and applaud that guy, remember the starving children.

But even those who get the lifesaving care they need will carry the scars of this for the rest of their lives. As every psychologist will tell you, a child's brain develops fastest in the first two years of life, and childhood malnutrition does lifelong cognitive and physical damage.

And I would ask my colleagues to stop for a moment and think about the psychological damage this war has done to the children there. Imagine being a child living with the constant buzzing of drones above your head, wondering if they are going to rain fire and bullets onto your home. Wondering if they might strike at any moment. Imagine being a little 5-year-old witnessing your relatives killed, your neighborhood destroyed. Imagine being a little 10-year-old: think about going hungry night after night, about searching for hours for water to drink. Think about being pushed from one place to another, carrying your belongings through streets running with sewage and amid piles of rubble and trash.

That is what Mr. Netanyahu - the man Congress is honoring tomorrow - has done to the children of Gaza.

According to the UN and virtually every humanitarian organization functioning in Gaza, Israel has intentionally blocked humanitarian aid - including food, water, and medical supplies - from reaching the desperate people of Gaza.

Let's be clear: there is NO excuse for this. Blocking humanitarian aid, killing aid workers, and creating the conditions for starvation - these are not only acts of extreme cruelty, but they are clear violations of both U.S. and international law. They are war crimes. And Netanyahu heads the government that has enacted these policies.

So tomorrow, M. President, when members of Congress give Mr. Netanyahu a standing ovation, I hope for one second they will remember the starving children in Gaza.

I hope while they applaud, that they will think about the hundreds of aid workers killed, the dozens of hospitals bombed, the housing destroyed, and the universities obliterated.

M. President, when Mr. Netanyahu rises to speak tomorrow, I also hope that my colleagues remember that all this death and destruction is not just the unfortunate byproduct of a brutal war. Revenge and destruction are the explicit policy of this Netanyahu's extremist government.

Two days into the war, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said, "I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly." And that is exactly how they have pursued this war. Let me repeat: the Israeli Defense Minister described the Palestinian people as "human animals" - and, tragically, they have acted consistent with that view.

Let us be clear: the Israel of today is not the Israel of the past. It is now run by a right-wing, extremist government.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the police, has long advocated for the forcible expulsion of Palestinians from the region. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the man responsible for the occupied West Bank, is also an extreme racist and has called for the expulsion of Palestinians from the land. He has called for segregated hospital wards for Jews and Arabs because, "Arabs are my enemies." That is the current Israeli finance minister and the man in charge of the West Bank.

So it should be no surprise that this extremist government, in addition to destroying Gaza, has overseen record Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, in violation of international law and commitments to the United States. Israeli forces and vigilante settlers have killed more than 500 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 7th, including 131 children.

Just last week, the International Court of Justice issued a ruling on the Israeli occupation of the West Bank. A panel of 15 accomplished judges from around the world confirmed what most of the world has long known: that occupation is illegal and must end.

I know that there are some here in Congress, not many, but some, who have condemned Netanyahu and his right-wing extremist government. But that is not enough. We cannot condemn a Prime Minister, who the ICC considers a war criminal, while at the same time continuing to provide his government with tens of billions of dollars in military aid. That is hypocrisy at its worst.

Just today, M. President, seven major unions, including the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), American Postal Workers Union (APWU), International Union of Painters (IUPAT), National Education Association (NEA), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), United Auto Workers (UAW) and United Electrical Workers (UE), some of the largest unions in America representing about 6 million workers, sent a letter to President Biden calling on him to immediately halt all military aid to Israel.

They are absolutely right.

Netanyahu is a right-wing extremist and a war criminal who has devoted his career to killing the prospects for a two-state solution and lasting peace. He should not be welcome in the United States Congress.

On the contrary, his policies in Gaza and the West Bank should be roundly condemned, and his right-wing extremist government should not receive another nickel of U.S. taxpayer funding.