Progressives are hammering Vermont’s Democratic Socialist senator, the reliably liberal Bernie Sanders, after he expressed skepticism about the efficacy of a long-term cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Left-wing activists are now accusing Senator Sanders of betraying them and “selling out”  to the America Israel Public Affairs Committee. 

The pushback against Mr. Sanders, who is Jewish,  demonstrates the difficulties faced by the handful of progressives resistant to joining the ranks calling for a permanent end to hostilities at Gaza. In addition to Mr. Sanders, Congressman Adam Schiff, who is also Jewish, lost the endorsement of Burbank’s mayor, Konstantine Anthony, in the race to fill Senator Feinstein’s seat. Mr. Anthony’s change of heart was, he stated in a press release, spurred by Mr. Schiff’s hesitation to call for a permanent end to fighting at Gaza. 

“I don’t know how you can have a permanent cease-fire with Hamas who has said before October 7 and after October 7 that they want to destroy Israel and they want a permanent war,” Mr. Sanders said during an interview on “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “I don’t know how you have a permanent cease-fire with an attitude like that.”

His comments were rebuked by anti-Israel progressives but praised by pro-Israel voices. A former DePaul University professor and author of several books critical of Israel, Norman Finkelstein, called Mr. Sanders’s comments “despicable.”

“Whether it was moral idiocy or being a moral monster or cynical opportunism because you are too much of a coward to break ranks with President Biden,” stated Mr. Finkelstein. “You are in effect giving Israel carte blanche to continue to indiscriminately target the civilian infrastructure and civilian population of Gaza…You have become a moral monster.”

A senior producer at Al Jazeera, Mohammed Alsaafin, stated that the Senator’s “incoherence” was “the logical endpoint for liberal Zionism.” Anti-Israel activist and cousin to the founder of the Boycott Divestment Sanction Movement, Mariam Barghouti, called the Senator “senile.” 

Mr. Sanders’s latest comments on the cease-fire were not the first time he has ruffled feathers amongst his supporters for taking a more muted position on the topic of a cease-fire at Gaza. Shortly after three Palestinians were shot at Burlington, Vermont, on November 26, a former campaign staffer and current Democratic Socialist Massachusetts state Representative, Erike Uyterhoeven, said about the  tragedy that there are “hundreds of ex-Bernie staffers who are deeply disgusted and disheartened” by the Vermont senator not having called for a cease-fire.

Yet Mr. Sanders’s comments were lauded by the pro-Israel groups he typically scorns. “Thank you @SenSanders for your strong opposition to a permanent cease-fire with Hamas,” the American Israel Public Affairs Committee wrote on X. The support, however, was not reciprocated. Shortly after the pro-Israel group’s praise, the senator stated that “AIPAC is a right-wing organization that supports extremist Republican election-denier candidates.”

Since the criticism surfaced, Mr. Sanders has reverted to a more traditional leftist tone in his public comments. On Wednesday, his office released a letter addressed to the president calling for an end to military aid to Israel, an immediate cease-fire, and the release of all hostages held in Gaza.

“Israel has the right to go to war against Hamas,” the letter says. “It does not have the right to go to war against innocent men, women, and children in Gaza… Israel’s military campaign will be remembered among some of the darkest chapters of our modern history.”

Mr. Sanders’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.