Michael Bloomberg
Michael BloombergReuters

Former New York mayor and presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg slammed Democratic rival Senator Bernie Sanders for refusing to address the annual AIPAC policy conference Monday, calling Sanders "dead wrong" for accusing AIPAC of racism.

"Unfortunately, not all of my fellow Democrats in this race have attended an AIPAC conference. One of them, Senator Sanders, has spent 30 years boycotting this event. And as you've heard by now, he called AIPAC a racist platform. Well, he's dead wrong," Bloomberg said during his address to the conference Monday.

I will always have Israel's back. Because Israel has a right to defend itself, by itself," Bloomberg aded. "That means I will never impose conditions on military aid no matter what government is in power."

"Calling it a racist platform is an attempt to discredit those voices, intimidate people from coming here, and weaken the U.S.-Israel relationship," he said. "The reality is, AIPAC doesn't fuel hatred. AIPAC works to combat it and the violence that it can produce. And if more elected officials spoke to the people here, they'd understand that."

Bloomberg also pledged to keep the US embassy in Jerusalem. “I will leave it there as president because that is where it belongs.”

“I will never impose conditions on military aid — no matter what government is in power,” he added in another swipe at Sanders. "Israel is on the front lines, countering American enemies in the region and sharing valuable intelligence and experience with us. Conditioning foreign aid wouldn't only impair Israel's ability to keep itself safe, but our ability to keep ourselves safe."