Israel’s former ambassador to the United States thinks Bernie Sanders owes his country an apology.
“First of all, he should get his facts right. Secondly, he owes Israel an apology,” Michael Oren, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. from 2009 to 2013, told the Times of Israel. “He accused us of a blood libel. He accused us of bombing hospitals. He accused us of killing 10,000 Palestinian civilians. Don’t you think that merits an apology?”
The comments by Oren, who is now a member of Israel’s Knesset, come after Sanders’ interview with the New York Daily News’ editorial board. In that Friday interview, the Democratic presidential candidate and Vermont senator is asked if he supports the attempts by Palestinian leadership to use the International Criminal Court to accuse Israel of committing war crimes.
Sanders said no, but added, “Look, why don’t I support a million things in the world? I’m just telling you that I happen to believe … anybody help me out here, because I don’t remember the figures, but my recollection is over 10,000 innocent people were killed in Gaza. Does that sound right?
“I don’t have it in my number … but I think it’s over 10,000,” Sanders said. “My understanding is that a whole lot of apartment houses were leveled. Hospitals, I think, were bombed. So yeah, I do believe and I don’t think I’m alone in believing that Israel’s force was more indiscriminate than it should have been.”
Oren shot back at Sanders’ claims.
“He doesn’t mention the many thousands of Hamas rockets fired at us. He doesn’t mention the fact that Hamas hides behind civilians. He doesn’t mention the fact that we pulled out of Gaza in order to give the Palestinians a chance to experiment with statehood, and they turned it into an experiment with terror. He doesn’t mention any of that. That, to me, is libelous,” he said.
In a statement Wednesday, the Anti-Defamation League called on Sanders to apologize for and restate his remarks.
“Even the highest number of casualties claimed by Palestinian sources that include Hamas members engaged in attacking Israel is five times less than the number cited by Bernie Sanders,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said. “As Mr. Sanders publicly discusses his approach to key U.S. foreign policy priorities, including Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, accuracy and accountability are essential for the voting public, but also for U.S. credibility in the international community. We urge Senator Sanders to correct his misstatements.”
