The Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly rejected three disapproval resolutions introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont) aimed at blocking arms sales to Israel.
Sanders, 83, has announced a $20 billion plan to send U.S. tank shells, mortar shells and Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMS) to the Jewish state, citing “unacceptable civilian death and harm” in Gaza. They were trying to stop an arms deal.
The deal, which had already been approved by Congress and was expected to be defeated, also served as a test of Democratic support in the Senate for the Biden-Harris administration's handling of the war against Hamas.
Nineteen senators, including Sen. Dick Durbin (D-N.M.), Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Sen. Maisie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Sen. Tim (D-N.M.) 17 MPs and 2 independents voted in favor of at least one of the three resolutions. Kaine (D-Virginia), Ben Ray Lujan (D-New Mexico), Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts), Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), Jon Ossoff (D-Georgia), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Jeanne Shaheen (D-Newham), Tina Smith (D-Minnesota), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Raphael Warnock. (D-GA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), George Helmy (D-NJ), Angus King (I-ME), Mr. Sanders.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) voted “present.” Vice President-elect J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) did not vote.
Ahead of the vote, Sanders accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of waging “an all-out war against the Palestinian people,” not “just” against the terrorist group Hamas.
progressive senator will be charged more Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 75, said the attack was a “violation of international and US law” and that “it is illegal for our government to provide him with more offensive weapons.”
Sanders said the 30-day deadline imposed by the Biden-Harris administration to urge Netanyahu to improve the treatment of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip passed without meeting the Israeli government's demands for increased humanitarian aid to Gaza. In response, a draft resolution was submitted. According to major global aid organizations.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin strongly opposed the resolution.
“Israel needs to protect itself not just today, but tomorrow, next year and beyond,” Schumer said. “Giving Israel the resources it needs to defend itself against its enemies is a cornerstone of American policy. We should not depart from that policy today.”
Cardin argued that blocking arms sales to Israel would “turn the wind on Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas at the worst possible time.”
Several Republicans, including Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), condemned Sanders' efforts, calling the move “absolutely shameful and morally bankrupt.”
“Hamas invaded Israel, killing more Jews than at any time since the Holocaust. Israel is fighting for survival against Iran's terrorist proxies. What is Bernie Sanders' response? Arms embargo on *Israel* It's a measure.'' Cotton I wrote it to X.
Sen. Lindsey Graham warned that if the resolution passes, it would send a signal to “the enemies of Israel and the enemies of peace that if we stick with this resolution, we will win.”
The Republican Jewish Federation, a prominent pro-Israel group, denounced the effort to block the arms deal as “a new dangerous low for anti-Israel Democrats in the U.S. Senate.”
The group said “history will judge harshly” the 18 senators who supported the effort and their apologists.
