The U.S. Senate voted down three bills by independent Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont that would have stopped the U.S. from selling arms to Israel worth about $20 billion.
A year after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, Sanders introduced three Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRDs) in late September. The Gaza Health Ministry says that Israel’s following military ground and air campaign in Gaza has killed over 43,000 people by some estimates.
A lot of damage has been done to Gaza. Officials from the United Nations have warned that famine is about to happen because more than 2 million Palestinians are suffering “extremely critical” levels of hunger.
During a passionate speech on the U.S. Senate floor, Sanders made a final plea to senators, urging them not to ignore the humanitarian crisis and the U.S.’s support for “mass starvation.”
Sanders’ S.J. Res. 111 bill was thrown out by a vote of 18 to 79 in the Senate on Wednesday night. Since Israel has a lot of support in the upper house, the motions were not expected to pass. However, they show that Democrats don’t agree with President Joe Biden’s view on the ongoing war.
The Jewish senator has spoken out against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s military actions and limits on sending aid. He says that Israel is breaking international law and going beyond its right to protect itself.
Sanders has also said many times that he doesn’t like how the Biden administration is handling the war and supporting it. He is also frustrated that the administration isn’t holding Israel responsible.
Along with other military aid, the three resolutions tried to stop the transfer of U.S. tank rounds, water rounds, and guidance kits attached to the “bombs dropped in Gaza” to Israel, Sanders said at a news conference on Tuesday with Senators Peter Welch, Chris Van Hollen, and Jeff Merkley.
Sanders went on to declare that the United States is “complicit” in the war, its crimes, and its breaking of international law.
The steps would have stopped the U.S. from selling about $20 billion worth of weapons to Israel. According to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), the United States has given Israel more than $310 billion in economic and military help, including at least $228 billion in military aid. The United States is a strong ally of Israel.
“The United States government is currently in violation of the law, and every member of the U.S. Senate who believes in the rule of law should vote for the resolutions,” Sanders said the day before the vote.
The Vermont Independent alleged that the U.S. is breaking the Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Export Control Act by giving weapons to countries that break internationally recognized human rights or that stop U.S. humanitarian help.
The United Nations and many humanitarian groups have told the world about Israel’s violations, pointing out in particular its limits on sending humanitarian help. Israel has said it will provide food and other kinds of humanitarian help.
In a Washington Post opinion article this week, Sanders wrote, “The need is greater than at any other time in the conflict; the volume of aid getting into Gaza in recent weeks is lower than at any point since the war began.”
The senator continued, “All of this is unspeakable and immoral. But what makes it even more painful is that much of this death and destruction has been carried out with U.S. weaponry and paid for by American taxpayers. During the last year alone, the United States has provided $18 billion in military aid to Israel and delivered more than 50,000 tons of armaments and military equipment. Something has to be done and something must be done by the United States.”
