Yuli Edelstein
Yuli EdelsteinFlash 90

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein on Tuesday fired back at US Senator Bernie Sanders, who said at the J Street Conference a day earlier that he would re-allocate some of the funds earmarked for Israel to Gaza if elected president.

“Bernie Sanders, stop talking nonsense. Just yesterday, I met with representatives of the EU during their visit to the Knesset, and I told them about the absurd claims regarding the economic situation in the Gaza Strip,” tweeted Edelstein.

“It's time to put an end to these claims. They have the all the necessary means--they use the money earmarked for the public benefit in order to attack the State of Israel,” he added.

Sanders in his remarks also called the Israeli government “racist” and even ridiculed both Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump, saying, "One is on the way to being ousted and the other may be sent to prison."

Sanders’ comments were also criticized by Nikki Haley, the former US Ambassador to the UN.

“Just when you thought Bernie Sanders couldn’t get any more radical, he outdid himself. He wants to take money we give to Israel to defend itself from terrorists, and give it to Gaza, which is run by terrorists?? Unreal. Why isn’t every other Dem pres candidate saying he’s wrong?” tweeted Haley.

Sanders, who is Jewish, has caused an uproar due to anti-Israel statements he has made in the past.

In August, Sanders said the US cannot prioritize the wants and needs of Israel over all else if it wants to help bring peace to the Middle East.

In April, he described the Israeli government as “racist” and said that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu “is a right-wing politician who I think is treating the Palestinian people extremely unfairly."

Last year, he criticized Netanyahu and his policies, saying, "As someone who believes absolutely and unequivocally in Israel's right to exist... we must say loudly and clearly, that to oppose the reactionary policies of Prime Minister Netanyahu does not make us anti-Israel."