A former senior aide to Sen. Bernie Sanders has publicly broken with the Vermont independent, accusing him of endorsing candidates whose rhetoric and positions fuel antisemitism.

Joel Rubin, who served as Sanders’ Jewish outreach director during his 2020 presidential campaign, told Jewish Insider at the Aspen Security Forum that Sanders has supported “the most categorically anti-Israel, antisemitic candidates that we’ve seen in a generation, if ever.”

Rubin, a former State Department official, said he once believed Sanders could unite progressive values with support for the Jewish community. Instead, he argued, the senator has embraced figures who have crossed the line from criticism of Israeli government policy into rhetoric that promotes antisemitic tropes and hostility toward Jews.

He warned that such endorsements are especially damaging amid rising antisemitism in the United States and around the world, and said political leaders must distinguish between legitimate criticism of Israel and language or movements that demonize Jews.

The comments represent one of the strongest public rebukes Sanders has received from a former senior campaign aide closely involved in Jewish outreach.

Sanders, who is Jewish, has repeatedly maintained that his criticism of Israeli government policies is separate from antisemitism. Rubin’s remarks nevertheless highlight deepening divisions within the Democratic Party over Israel, antisemitism and the direction of progressive politics ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)