Senate—Again—Rejects Sanders' Effort to Block US Arms to Israel

As he did during the Biden administration, Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday forced votes on resolutions that would block some U.S. arms sales to Israel as it wages a devastating war on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip—and as they did last November, the vast majority of his Senate colleagues from both major political parties blocked the bills.

"We're witnessing a U.S.-funded genocide, paid for by the billions with our tax dollars," Ahmad Abuznaid, executive director of U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights Action, said in a statement after most senators opposed the joint resolutions of disapproval (JRDs) that would have prevented the transfer of $8.8 billion more in weapons.

"U.S. military funding for Israel's war crimes is not in the interests of the American people, and yet our representatives today voted to continue aiding and abetting human rights violations of the Palestinian people," Abuznaid added. "The continued failure to hold Israel accountable for its war crimes—and to instead continue providing bombs for its siege—violates human rights and international law."

Just 14 Democrats joined Sanders (I-Vt.) in voting for S. J. Res. 33 and S.J. Res. 26: Sens. Dick Durbin (Ill.), Martin Heinrich (N.M.), Mazie Hirono (Hawaii), Tim Kaine (Va.), Andy Kim (N.J.), Ben Ray Luján (N.M.), Ed Markey (Mass.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Chris Murphy (Conn.), Brian Schatz (Hawaii), Tina Smith (Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (Md.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), and Peter Welch (Vt.).

For both JRDs, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) voted present, and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) did not vote. Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) did not vote for the first one and opposed the second. The remaining Democrats and all Republicans opposed the measures. The final tallies are slightly lower than the numbers from the trio of resolutions late last year.

"It is American bombs and American military equipment being used to destroy Gaza, kill 50,000 people, injure over 110,000 people. We cannot hide from that reality."

Speaking on the Senate floor Thursday, Sanders took aim at the country's "corrupt" campaign finance system that stems from the U.S. Supreme Court's "disastrous" Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision in 2010. He noted that "if you are a Republican and you vote against the Trump-Musk administration in one way or another, you have got to look over your shoulder and worry that you're gonna get a call from Elon Musk, the wealthiest man in the world."

"If you are a Democrat, you have to worry about the billionaires who fund AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee," he explained. "If you vote against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his horrific war in Gaza, AIPAC will punish you with millions of dollars in advertisements and in other ways to see that you are defeated. AIPAC's [political action committee] and super PAC spent nearly $127 million combined during the 2023-2024 election cycle, according to the Federal Election Commission."

"And I must confess that AIPAC has been successful. Last year, they defeated two members of the U.S. House who opposed providing military aid to Netanyahu's extremist government," he acknowledged, advocating for election reforms "so that we can once again become a government of the people, by the people, for the people—and not a government run by the billionaire class."

Standing before large images of bombed buildings and starving children, Sanders also laid out the necessity of his JRDs, highlighting that since the deadly October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, "Prime Minister Netanyahu's racist and extremist government has waged an all-out barbaric war against the Palestinian people and made life unlivable in Gaza."

As of Thursday, the Gaza Health Ministry put the total death toll at 50,523, with at least 114,776 wounded and thousands missing. Over 1,160 deaths and 2,700 injuries have occurred since Israel abandoned a fragile cease-fire in mid-March. Putting the war's totals into perspective, Sanders noted that it would be the equivalent of roughly 25 million Americans being killed or wounded.

The senator also emphasized Israel's destruction of Gaza's civilian infrastructure, from homes and hospitals to schools, and its restrictions on humanitarian aid throughout the war. He noted that "today, it is 31 days and counting with absolutely NO humanitarian aid getting into Gaza. Nothing. No food, no water, no medicine, no fuel, for over a month. That is as clear a violation of the Geneva Convention, the Foreign Assistance Act, and basic human decency. It is a war crime."

"You don't starve children. And it is pushing things toward an even deeper catastrophe," he continued. "And what makes it even worse, why I am here today, and why I have introduced these resolutions that we will soon be voting on, is that we, as Americans, are deeply complicit in what is happening in Gaza... We are deeply complicit in all of this death and suffering."

Sanders stressed that "last year alone, the United States provided $18 billion in military aid to Israel and delivered more than 50,000 tons of military equipment. It is American bombs and American military equipment being used to destroy Gaza, kill 50,000 people, injure over 110,000 people. We cannot hide from that reality."

Van Hollen also spoke in favor of the resolutions, while Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair James Risch (R-Idaho) spoke out against them—and said that just before walking into the chamber, he was handed a paper detailing President Donald Trump's opposition to the measures.

As Common Dreams has reported, since taking office in January, Trump has sanctioned the International Criminal Court, citing its November arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense minister; welcomed the Israeli leader to the White House; and proposed a U.S. takevoer of Gaza.

"Today, as the Trump administration accelerates U.S. weapons sales to Israel, senators had the opportunity to vote against U.S. complicity in this suffering," Annie Shiel, U.S. advocacy director at Center for Civilians in Conflict, said Thursday. "Instead, they made a choice to continue U.S. support for a bombing campaign that has made Gaza unlivable for Palestinian civilians."

"We commend the 15 senators who voted to block these sales, protect civilians, and uphold U.S. and international law, and reiterate our call for the end to U.S. arms transfers to Israel, unfettered humanitarian access, and a renewed cease-fire," she added.

Dr. Mimi Syed, an emergency medicine physician who served in two medical tours in Gaza last year, also called out the Senate's majority on Thursday, declaring that they "capitulated to Trump" and that "our government's unconditional support for this genocide sends a dangerous message that violations of Palestinian dignity and freedom will continue to go unchecked."

“Every day in Gaza, I witnessed the devastating consequences of these U.S.-made bombs—entire families buried under rubble, hospitals forced to shut down, and patients left to die because there's no power, no medicine, and no way to evacuate," Syed said. "The U.S. is not just enabling these atrocities—it is directly funding it. And things have only worsened since Israel broke the cease-fire two weeks ago."

Josh Paul, who resigned from the U.S. State Department to protest then-President Joe Biden's support for the Israeli assault and then co-founded A New Policy, suggested that "if any other country in the world was using American bombs to kill thousands of innocent people—including the greatest loss of life among journalists in history, and the greatest loss of life among U.N. workers since the organization was established—U.S. senators would be lining up to block such weapons transfers."

"The transfer of these arms by consecutive presidents undermines our credibility and morality as a global power—while Congress' acquiescence is a failure of our elected officials to stand up for the application of our own laws," he asserted. "Continued unfettered arms sales to Israel enables gross human rights violations and will keep Israel from coming back to the negotiating table after a broken cease-fire."

"I left my post at the State Department in 2023 because the arms transfers I was being asked to facilitate were not being done in the name of peace, security, nor the interests of the American people," he added. "Our government must reassess not just our policies, but the values driving them."