Senator Bernie Sanders’ hypocrisy is exposed by his hatred of Israel

In the United States, there are many on the left who have been longtime critics of the state of Israel. In the mainstream media, you have Peter Beinart and Thomas Friedman. In academia, there is Norman Finkelstein and Hatem Bazian. In U.S politics, there is Senator Dick Durban, Rep. Keith Ellison, and Green Party leader Jill Stein. However, few have been more outspoken in their criticism of Israel than the Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders. Senator Sanders once again took an opportunity to speak out against Israel when he predictably took to Twitter and criticized the decision by President Trump to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Sanders, who is a disciple of Israel hater Noam Chomsky, has used many of his radical supporter’s talking points supporting his hatred of Israel to advance his own political agenda. In doing so, Sanders has shown incredible levels of hypocrisy on many fronts.

Since Sanders’ ascension to national prominence, the longtime social activist has continued to appease many in his following by slamming and disrespecting the only democracy in the Middle East. The examples are numerous. In 2015, Sanders was one of eight senators to boycott PM Netanyahu’s speech to the United States Congress regarding the Iran Nuclear Deal. Subsequently, Sanders would go on to enthusiastically support the Iran nuclear deal, the JPOA, a deal that PM Netanyahu has called an existential threat to his country.

In 2016, during his debate with Hillary Clinton, Sanders slandered Israel by calling Israel’s response to thousands of rockets from Hamas on their civilian population “disproportionate.” This is despite Israel taking unprecedented steps to reduce the level of civilian casualties in Gaza. Sanders, who markets himself as an advocate of human rights, does not speak out against the human rights violations that are being committed in Gaza and Judea and Samaria by both the PA and Hamas. Sanders, who claims to be vehemently opposed to bigotry, has conspicuously failed to condemn the horrific and bigoted incitement against Jews in the “Palestinian” government, schools, mosques, and many other segments of “Palestinian” society. As for Israeli Arabs, whatever challenges they may face, they receive full human rights. They are doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, members of the Knesset, and on the Supreme Court. Arab women in Israel, in particular, have more human rights than women do in any of Israel’s neighboring Muslim countries. A fact that women’s rights activist Sanders seems to have forgotten.

As the presidential campaign of Senator Sanders progressed, his hypocrisy became even more apparent when he hired Simone Zimmerman, an advocate of the bigoted BDS movement, as his national Jewish outreach coordinator. Sanders would later accept the endorsement of the vicious anti-Semite and BDS supporter, Linda Sarsour, who supports the implementation of Sharia law. Sanders also appointed BDS supporters Rep. Keith Ellison, James Zogby of the Arab American Institute, and social justice activist Cornell West to the Democratic Party’s policy committee; their hatred of Israel he conveniently ignored. Sanders has called upon the United States to reduce military aid to Israel. However, Sanders ignores the fact that billions of dollars in U.S aid to the PA has been used to finance their terrorist activities, bigotry, and human rights violations. In 2017, Sanders flew to the UK to campaign for the bigot Jeremy Corbyn, who once referred to Hamas and Hezbollah as “friends.”

This only scratches the surface of the hypocrisy that Senator Sanders has displayed in supporting Israeli boycotters and singling out Israel for condemnation. Senator Sanders, who claims to be an environmentalist, made “saving the planet” a central part of his campaign. However, Sanders’ support for environmentalism has not softened his stance on Israel, perhaps the most environmentally responsible country in the world. Israel, which is committed to Tikkun Olam (repair the world), was the only country to begin the 21^st century with a net gain in its number of trees. More than 85 percent of solid waste in Israel is treated in an environmentally sound way. Israel recycles 90 percent of its waste water, more than 4 times the rate of the second place country of Spain. Israel has also been a world leader in developing clean energy such as solar and wind.

What about Senator Sanders’ affinity for the less fortunate? Well, Israel has been on the front line of humanitarian relief in the developing world. Israel provides humanitarian assistance to more than 140 countries, including countries that it does not have diplomatic relations with. The most recent example is Syria. Despite Israel being technically at war with Syria, Israel has built a field hospital along the Syrian border, providing medical assistance to thousands of Syrians, who are desperate for medical attention.

Even in an area such as legalizing marijuana, one would think that Sanders could find a commonality with Israel. Sanders, who has been a proponent of legalizing marijuana for medical purposes, should be rushing to Israel, since Israel is a global leader in cannabis research, and will likely legalize marijuana for medical purposes in the future.

So why would Senator Sanders have such disdain for a country that any “progressive” should have so much in common with? What is at the core of Senator Sander’s hypocrisy? Maybe it’s because Israel rejected socialism and chose to become an entrepreneurial marvel, or maybe it’s just old fashioned anti-Semitism, or maybe Bernie Sanders (like many progressives) is just FULL OF IT!