US Senate foils effort to nix Israel arms sale, but 75% of Democrats vote to block it |
The US Senate voted down a pair of resolutions to prevent weapons and bulldozer sales to Israel on Wednesday, but the vast majority of Democrats joined the minority, demonstrating a major shift in the party’s approach toward Israel.
Forty out of 47 Senate Democrats voted in favor of one of the resolutions to block a $295 million sale of bulldozers, which the initiative’s author, Senator Bernie Sanders, claimed would be used to demolish homes in the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon. Fifty-nine senators — mostly Republicans — voted against blocking the sale.
Thirty-six Democrats backed another resolution aimed at blocking a $152 million sale of 1,000-pound bombs to the IDF, which Sanders argued would be used in Gaza and Lebanon. Sixty-three senators voted against blocking the sale.
“The United States must use the leverage we have — tens of billions in arms and military aid — to demand that Israel ends these atrocities,” he said, urging support for the resolutions.
Israel says it does not intentionally target civilians, and that its strikes are intended to neutralize terror threats and military infrastructure.
“It’s clear that Democrats are beginning to listen to the average American who is sick and tired of spending billions of dollars to support Netanyahu’s horrific wars when people in this country can’t afford housing or health care,” Sanders said after the vote.
A decades-long tradition of strong bipartisan support for Israel in the US Congress means resolutions to stop weapons sales are unlikely to pass, but backers hope raising the issue will encourage Israel’s government and US administrations to do more to protect civilians.
Sanders forced votes on the resolutions, saying the sales violate criteria for foreign assistance in the Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Export Control Act.
Supporters of the........