Senate Overwhelmingly Rejects Sanders Resolutions to Block Arms Sales to Israel

On Wednesday, less than a fifth of the Senate voted to block weapons sales to Israel in a key vote orchestrated by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) that will be remembered for decades to come as a show of U.S. lawmakers’ deep complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

Senators overwhelmingly rejected the resolutions, with around 79 voting against blocking the sales of tank rounds; 78 against blocking mortar rounds; and 80 against blocking the sale of JDAMs to Israel — despite extensive evidence that Israeli forces are using U.S. weapons to commit war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza and beyond.

The resolutions, totaling $1 billion, failed despite representing only a small fraction of the $20 billion in weapons the Biden administration has proposed sending to Israel. The vote was the first ever in Congress regarding blocking a weapons transfer to Israel.

By contrast, the resolution to block tank rounds only received 18 votes to advance, while there were 19 votes in favor of the mortar rounds resolution, and 17 for JDAMs. All Republicans voted “no” on each resolution. Notably, however, the majority of the Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted to advance the resolutions.

In a speech on the Senate floor ahead of the vote, Sanders emphasized the U.S.’s role in Israel’s atrocities in Gaza, saying that the passage of the resolutions is not only a moral imperative, but also a legal and strategic one.

“From a legal perspective, these resolutions are simple, straightforward, and not complicated. Bottom line: The United States government must obey the law,” said Sanders. “The Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Export Control Act are very clear: the United State government cannot provide weapons to countries that violate internationally recognized human rights or block U.S. humanitarian aid.”

“Our complicity must end,” he said.

Joining Sanders in voting to advance all three resolutions were Senators Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Virginia), Angus King (I-Maine), Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico), Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts), Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Jeanne Shaheen (D-New Hampshire), Tina Smith (D-Minnesota), Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland), Raphael Warnock (D-Georgia), Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and Peter Welch (D-Vermont).

Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Georgia) voted “no” on blocking JDAMs but “yes” on blocking mortar and tank rounds, while Sen. George Helmy (D-New Jersey) only voted “yes” on blocking the sale of mortar rounds. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) voted “present” on all three.

The vote failure means that the sales will likely go forward, in contravention of domestic law prohibiting weapons from being sent to entities blocking humanitarian aid and committing human rights violations, as Sanders, experts and proponents of Palestinian rights have pointed out.

The transfers will further the U.S.’s role in Israel’s genocide in Gaza as international officials warn that the entire population of 2 million people in Gaza is facing a famine created by Israel’s brutal humanitarian blockade. The deal will also enable Israel to continue its aggression in the occupied West Bank, Lebanon, and beyond, as Israeli and U.S. leaders threaten war with Iran.

Ahead of the vote, roughly four dozen activists led by Jewish Voice for Peace were arrested for protesting in the Hart Senate Office Building, demanding senators vote to back Sanders’s resolutions. Numerous advocacy organizations backed the resolutions, saying that blocking arms transfers are crucial to stop Israel’s assault.

“The Senate must vote to finally end arms transfers to Israel, as we see the crisis continue to escalate with warnings of imminent famine and entire communities being permanently erased in North Gaza governorate,” said Oxfam America Director of Peace and Security Scott Paul in a statement ahead of the vote. “We are asking Senators to vote to meet the bare minimum — to uphold existing US law — to block deadly weapons from taking more lives.”

Last week, a coalition of 57 groups, including numerous foreign policy advocacy, humanitarian and pro-Palestinian groups, launched a campaign to urge the Senate to vote for the resolutions. The campaign aimed to drive Americans to contact their senators to urge them to vote “yes.”

The resolutions faced long odds of passing due to deep support for Israel among U.S. officials. Democratic leaders, including the White House and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York), had fiercely lobbied against the resolutions.

Even if the resolutions had passed — requiring a simple majority vote in the Senate and the House — they would likely have been vetoed by President Joe Biden, who has spent the last year using nearly every avenue at his disposal to continue sending Israel weapons to use in its genocide.