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— Co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s

Ben Cohen

, who was ejected from a Senate committee hearing on Wednesday for her protest, described Israel’s operations in Gaza as “a genocide perpetrated with our bombs” and stated that Americans have grown “complicit” due to their military backing.

The American public has tacitly approved of the genocidal actions being carried out by Israel, and without our supply of weapons, they would not be capable of continuing this,” Cohen said to Big One News’s

CUOMO

,” after he was dismissed from the hearing.

Cohen was removed from the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Committee hearing

featuring Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after standing up and shouting, “Congress pays for bombs.” The protest occurred about 15 minutes into the hearing.


A sustainable budget for Medicaid is essential for its survival, according to Rep. Mark Harris.

When questioned regarding his demonstration, Cohen stated that it “wasn’t actually related to Bobby Kennedy,” but rather centered on different issues.

Congress cutting Medicaid funding

while increasing military spending.

“What this boils down to is that Congress has been reducing funds for Medicaid, which provides healthcare for impoverished children. They’re utilizing the savings from these cuts to fund attacks on other underprivileged children in Gaza,” Cohen stated.

The co-founder of the ice cream company indicated towards broad-ranging

destruction in Gaza

As proof of what he sees as genocide.

“All the hospitals, universities, schools, and homes have been devastated, and tens of thousands of people have lost their lives,” Cohen stated.

While acknowledging that

Hamas-held hostages

must be returned, Cohen dismissed the idea that this legitimizes Israel’s military operation.


Republicans advance bill with steep cuts to Medicaid as part of Trump agenda

“The hostages need to be returned, but that’s no justification to kill tens of thousands of children, old people, mothers, fathers, you know, people just like us,” he said.

Cohen has a

history of political activism

, having been arrested for disorderly conduct in 2018 while protesting F-35 fighter jets based in Vermont.

He supported Sen. Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaigns in 2016 and 2020, and during the 2024 presidential race, he and co-founder Jerry Greenfield created a “

Kamala’s Coconut Dream

” ice cream flavor as part of a get-out-the-vote initiative for then-Vice President Harris.

The ice cream entrepreneur advocated for treating Palestinians “decently” and supported a two-state solution, suggesting Israel has been “shutting that out” while creating a “humanitarian disaster.”

Big One Newspartner The Hill contributed to this report.


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