Alan Dershowitz called Bernie Sanders a 'self-hating Jew' over his stance on Israel-Palestine violence

• High-profile lawyer Alan Dershowitz called Sen. Bernie Sanders a "self-hating Jew."
• He was responding to the senator's stance on Israel-Palestine violence, which escalated this week.
• Sanders called for a ceasefire and said both Israel and Palestinians have a "right to live in peace and security."

Lawyer Alan Dershowitz called Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is Jewish, a "self-hating jew" over his stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Dershowitz, a former Harvard law professor and high-profile defense attorney who has represented Jeffrey Epstein, OJ Simpson, and Donald Trump, was speaking on the right-wing outlet Newsmax.

"Inadvertently you get the social media supporting Hamas, the New York Times supporting Hamas, and it sends a very powerful message: 'Do it again,'" he said. "You'll prevail on this because of the antisemitism that stimulates so much of this. And you can be a Jew and an antisemite."

He then commended President Joe Biden for his statements on the violence. The president said earlier this week that "Israel has a right to defend itself" in response to the escalating violence.

Dershowitz compared Biden's response to the Vermont senator's.

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"But Bernie Sanders, who's Jewish, is a self-hating Jew," he said. "A self-hating Jew who is willing to see Israel be defeated militarily by a terrorist group because he's on the hard left."

-Jason Campbell (@JasonSCampbell) May 14, 2021

In a New York Times essay published Friday, Sanders called for an immediate ceasefire and an "evenhanded approach" to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

"Israel has the absolute right to live in peace and security, but so do the Palestinians," Sanders wrote.

He called the firing of missiles into Israel by Hamas, a Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, "unacceptable," and said there was no argument against Israel's "right to defend itself." But he also wrote that the US has neglected the rights of the Palestinian people.

He said the US must stop being "apologists" for the way Israel's government has treated Palestinians.

Violence has escalated recently after an Israeli court ruled Palestinians could be evicted from their homes in East Jerusalem and replaced by Jewish settlers, Insider's Azmi Haroun reported. The conflict has led to hundreds of attacks by Hamas and Israel since Monday.

The Israeli airstrikes on Gaza have left at least 126 Palestinians dead, including 31 children, The Associated Press reported. In Israeli, Hamas attacks have killed seven people, including one child.