Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) responded on Sunday’s broadcast of CBS’s “Face the Nation” to remarks by Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon, who addressed Sanders calling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “reactionary racist.”
Partial transcript as follows:
MARGARET BRENNAN: You’ve been sparring with the pro-Israel lobby known as AIPAC. You said it gives a platform for bigotry, which was seen as a swipe at Prime Minister Netanyahu. Today, Israel’s ambassador to the UN says of you that you’re not welcome in that country and “Anyone who calls our prime minister a racist is either a liar, an ignorant fool or both.” Do you see a political cost in taking on the pro-Israel lobby in this way?
SANDERS: Yeah, I do. I mean, they have a lot of money. They have a lot of power. Look, I’m Jewish and I’m very proud of my Jewish heritage. As a kid, I spent time in Israel. I am not in- anti-Israel. I will do everything I can to protect the independence and the security and the freedom of the Israeli people. But what we need in this country is a foreign policy that not only protects Israel, but deals with the suffering of the Palestinian people as well. You’ve got 70 percent youth unemployment in Gaza. People can’t even leave that district, that area, major, major crises. It is not sustainable that we continued conflict in the Middle East until the United States develops an even handed policy.
BRENNAN: Yeah.
SANDERS: So, I am pro-Israel. I am pro-Palestinian. I want to bring people together to finally achieve peace in that region.
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