Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, spoke on Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where he called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
“We must end this horrific war in Gaza, bring home the hostages and demand an immediate ceasefire,” said Sanders, who got an ovation from the crowd as he made his remarks.
Sanders is one of Israel’s fiercest critics in Congress, having most recently boycotted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Congress speech while branding Netanyahu a “war criminal”.
He has long been critical of Israel’s government, referring to it as “racist” and has advocated for the US to condition its aid to Israel.
Sanders previously called on Congress to reject the $10.1 billion in unconditional military aid being considered for Israel, saying the funds would be used by the Israeli government “to continue its brutal war against the Palestinian people.”
Despite the fact that Sanders has become steadily more critical of Israel’s war in Gaza, he continues to resist calling for a permanent ceasefire, which he says would open the door to further Hamas attacks.