Senator Bernie Sanders pledged to be friendly toward both Israelis and Palestinians, if elected president, and condemned the continued building of settlements in the West Bank in a speech in Utah Monday.

The Vermont senator, who packed rally stadiums with tens of thousands of supporters in Washington State over the weekend, skipped out on a major pro-Israel conference on Capital Hill to campaign in the West ahead of three primary contests on Tuesday and more to come this Saturday.

Before a major rally in Salt Lake City this afternoon, Sanders delivered a speech on foreign policy outlining his Middle East agenda to a smaller crowd of high school students and teachers in Salt Lake City.

In his speech, Sanders highlighted his ties to Israel, having completed a Kibbutz as a young man, but advocated the right to self determination for both Israel and Palestine under a proposed two-state solution.

"We are obligated to speak the truth as we see it and that is what real friendship demands," Sanders said. "If elected president, I will work tirelessly to advance the work of peace as a partner and friend to Israel, but to be successful we have to be friendly not only to Israel but to the Palestinian people."