Mike Pompeo Accuses Liberals of 'Siding with Hamas Terrorists' Against America

Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has strongly criticized the Biden administration's Middle East policy and hit out at prominent certain members of Congress for their reaction to the recent rocket attacks in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Pompeo, who served under former President Donald Trump, took to Twitter on Monday to accuse Senator Bernie Sanders, Representative Ilhan Omar and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of siding with "Hamas terrorists" against the U.S.

The violence between Israel and Hamas—the Islamic group that controls the Gaza Strip—entered its ninth day on Tuesday. Biden called for a ceasefire on Monday amid a rising death toll.

"The Biden Administration has distanced itself from Israel by attempting to revive the failed Iran deal, siding with the Ayatollahs over our ally. America must be strong and defend its allies without hesitation," Pompeo said.

He was referring to the the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreed between Iran and the U.S. on Iran's nuclear program.

Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal in 2019 and the Biden administration is trying to reach an agreement that would allow both countries to return to the terms of the deal.

Pompeo also took aim at individual Democrats who have criticized Israel's actions toward Gaza.

The Israeli military began launching airstrikes last Monday and at least 212 people in Gaza, including 61 children, have been killed, according to the Associated Press (AP).

In Israel, 10 people have been killed including one soldier and a five-year-old boy.

Pompeo shared an article from Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua which reported foreign minister Wang Yi calling for a ceasefire and urging a two-state solution.

"The CCP and some liberals in Congress like @BernieSanders ,@AOC & @IlhanMN are siding with Hamas terrorists and against America and Israel. What's the common denominator? All deny America is a force for good in the world. They are wrong," Pompeo wrote.

The U.S. considers Hamas a foreign terrorist group.

Representatives Ocasio-Cortez and Omar, along with Senator Sanders, are among the Democrats who have criticized Israeli airstrikes.

"This is happening with the support of the United States. I don't care how any spokesperson tries to spin this. The US vetoed the UN call for ceasefire," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted on Saturday. "If the Biden admin can't stand up to an ally, who can it stand up to? How can they credibly claim to stand for human rights?"

Omar described Israeli airstrikes as an "act of terrorism" on May 10, a day after the strikes began and has continued to criticize the country's actions.

"Palestinians deserve protection," she said. "Unlike Israel, missile defense programs, such as Iron Dome, don't exist to protect Palestinian civilians. It's unconscionable to not condemn these attacks on the week of Eid."

Sanders wrote an op-ed in The New York Times on May 14 calling on the Biden administration to take a harder line on the Israeli government and highlighting the $3.8 billion in military aid Israel receives annually from the U.S.

"In the Middle East, where we provide nearly $4 billion a year in aid to Israel, we can no longer be apologists for the right-wing Netanyahu government and its undemocratic and racist behavior," Sanders wrote.

Newsweek has asked Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar, Senator Bernie Sanders and the White House for comment.