US Senator Bernie Sanders has called for an immediate end to American military assistance to Israel, citing escalating violence in the occupied West Bank that has left more than 1,000 Palestinians dead in the past two years and accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of pursuing “annexation by force,” according to Türkiye-based outlet Yeni Şafak and Anadolu Agency reporting on his latest statement. The Vermont independent made his appeal in a post on X on November 25, 2025, arguing that US support has “enabled” Israel’s actions and urging a fundamental shift in Washington’s long-standing policy of providing billions of dollars in military aid to its closest Middle Eastern ally.
“No More US Military Aid for Israel”
In his social media statement, Sanders said that “in two years, Israel has killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank,” pointing to daily settler attacks on Palestinian villages and warning that Netanyahu and his “extremist allies” have “one goal: annexation by force,” according to Yeni Şafak and Anadolu Agency. He added that “the U.S. has enabled them. No more US military aid for Israel,” reiterating a position he has advanced repeatedly in Senate speeches and press statements over the past two years.
Sanders has emerged as one of the most vocal critics of US military support for Israel in Congress. In earlier remarks, he condemned what he described as “unfettered” offensive military aid and opposed legislation that would channel roughly $8.98.9 billion in additional weapons to Israel, arguing that US taxpayers should not be “complicit” in the war’s humanitarian toll, according to his Senate office and international media coverage.
Rising West Bank Toll Since Gaza War
The latest call comes amid an intensification of Israeli military operations and settler violence in the West Bank since the Gaza war erupted in October 2023. Citing documented figures, Yeni Şafak and Anadolu Agency report that at least 1,080 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 11,000 injured in attacks by Israeli forces and armed settlers over the past two years, while more than 20,000 Palestinians have been arrested in the territory during that period.
Human rights groups and UN agencies have repeatedly warned that the combination of expanded raids, home demolitions, and settler assaults amounts to a severe deterioration in the human rights situation in the West Bank, compounding the devastation of the Gaza conflict. Sanders has cited those assessments as he presses Congress to use arms transfers as leverage, saying the US must not “continue providing the weapons and the military aid that is causing this massive destruction,” according to his prior prepared remarks on Capitol Hill.
ICJ Opinion Adds Legal Weight to Criticism
Sanders’ latest intervention also comes months after a landmark advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in July 2024 that found Israel’s continued occupation of Palestinian territories, including the West Bank and East Jerusalem, to be unlawful under international law. The court said Israel must cease all new settlement activity, evacuate settlers from the occupied territories, and end its “illegal” presence, while calling on other states not to aid or assist in maintaining the situation, according to the ICJ’s published findings and subsequent legal analyses.
Israel has rejected the ICJ opinion and maintained that its settlement policies do not violate international law, a stance supported by some of its allies. Sanders and other critics, however, argue that the ruling provides additional legal backing for demands to condition or halt US military assistance, especially in light of the casualties and displacement documented since 2023.
Debate Over US Role Likely to Intensify
The United States has long been Israel’s most prominent military backer, with some academic and media estimates indicating that Washington has provided tens of billions of dollars in security aid over the course of the Gaza war and decades of prior assistance. In one recent intervention, Sanders cited research suggesting that the US has effectively financed a substantial share of Israel’s campaign in Gaza, arguing that American taxpayers “have been used” to fund actions that have drawn growing international condemnation.
Sanders’ call is expected to deepen an already sharp debate in Washington over how to respond to the Gaza war and the parallel escalation in the West Bank. While key congressional leaders from both major parties continue to back robust military support for Israel, a bloc of progressive lawmakers is pressing for conditions or outright cuts tied to human rights benchmarks, and advocacy groups are likely to seize on Sanders’ latest remarks and the ICJ opinion as they lobby for policy change. Whether those efforts translate into concrete shifts in US aid will depend on upcoming legislative battles, public opinion, and the trajectory of violence on the ground in both Gaza and the West Bank in the months ahead.