The 2016 presidential hopefuls made their cases before The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on Tuesday. AIPAC is a lobby group that advocates for Israeli affairs in the United States.

But a certain democratic socialist, Bernie Sanders, was missing from the annual policy conference. Sanders is the only Jewish candidate running for president, although he’s said he’s not strictly religious.

His absence from the conference was actually because of prior campaign commitments as the primaries are currently in full-swing. However, the Senator from Vermont did offer to speak to the group via teleconference, although his offer was refused.

Making the best of the situation, as per usual, Sanders spoke to voters in Utah addressing foreign policy regarding Israel.

He went on to say:

‘I was invited along with other presidential candidates to be at the AIPAC conference in Washington, but obviously I could not make it because we are here. The issues that AIPAC is dealing with are very important issues and I wanted to give the same speech here as I would have given if we were at that conference. Let me begin by saying that I think I am probably the only candidate for president who has personal ties with Israel. I spent a number of months there when I was a young man on a kibbutz, so I know a little bit about Israel.’

‘To my mind, as friends – long term friends with Israel – we are obligated to speak the truth as we see it. That is what real friendship demands, especially in difficult times. Our disagreements will come and go, and we must weather them constructively. But it is important among friends to be honest and truthful about differences that we may have.’

Sanders was unafraid to criticize Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is pretty much Bernie’s polar opposite in every way. During a Monday night interview on All In With Chris Hayes, Bernie warned the audience that Netanyahu is a “right-wing politician… a guy who kind of crashed the United States Congress to give his speech there, ignoring President Obama, and not even consulting with him, using it for political purposes back home…”

Sanders is referring to when Netanyahu “went to speak to Congress, ignoring the warnings, publicly hazed the president and burned the last bridges that remained between himself and the White House,” as CBC notes.

As the only Jewish presidential candidate, Sanders went on to give his opinion regarding the turmoil in the Middle East:

‘I think the overreaction and the destruction of Gaza has gone too-too far. Israel should not be bombing schools, or homes, or… just terrible damage there.’

Sanders finished answering host Chris Hayes’ question by making his stance clear:

‘We just cannot be 100% supportive of people like Netanyahu and ignore the rest of the region.’

Watch the full interview below, via YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl2g_1gmhCE

Feature Image is a screengrab via YouTube.