Yeah, I know Sanders isn’t a hawk, and I probably would’ve voted for him in 2016 largely on that issue despite disagreeing with him on most other policies. But that doesn’t mean he’d pull funding from Israel, he’d just put conditions on it (only used for defense, and maybe require not targeting humanitarian aid trucks), but money is fungible so I don’t think it would help much.

And to say the issue has nothing to do with religion is fanciful thinking. Yeah, Hamas claims that in their manifestos, but their manifestos are absolutely religious. They’re not necessarily anti-Judaism, but they’re justifying the conflict in religious terms. They’re anti-Zionist, and Bernie sharing a religion (on paper at least) with the US’ Zionist ally could be a significant issue for credibility if the US is to try to get involved in peace talks.

At the end of the day, Hamas wants Jerusalem, which isn’t happening because it’s such an important site to both Judaism and Islam. That has everything to do with religion, and it’s why neither Israel or Hamas are interested in a two-state solution. Ending the occupation and freeing hostages wouldn’t end the conflict, things would just go back to how they were: terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel. That won’t end until Hamas controls Jerusalem, and it might require elimination of the state of Israel.