U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks during a press conference regarding legislation that would block offensive U.S. weapons sales to Israel, with Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Peter Welch (D-VT) at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., November 19, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The Senate on Wednesday (November 20, 2024) rejected an attempt by Sen. Bernie Sanders to block sales of offensive weapons to Israel for its war in Gaza over mounting civilian deaths there.

The Vermont lawmaker and a small group of Democrats sought to put legislation up for a Senate vote that would block the sale of some tank and mortar rounds and smart-bomb kits to Israel. The first attempt to block the sales was rejected overwhelmingly, and two more were expected to go down to defeat.

War against Palestinian people

Mr. Sanders, in making the case for stopping the sales, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government “has not simply waged war against Hamas. It has waged an all-out war against the Palestinian people.”

Known as joint resolutions of disapproval, the measures would have had to pass both houses of Congress and withstand any presidential veto to become binding. Congress has never succeeded in blocking any arms sales with the joint resolutions. But the vote served as a test of broader frustration among Democrats at the war and President Joe Biden’s handling of relations with Israel.

Lawmakers’ move comes after a 30-day Biden administration deadline came and went earlier this month for Netanyahu to meet specific U.S. targets to improve its treatment of Palestinian civilians in Gaza trapped in the war. U.S. demands included that Israel lift a near-total ban on delivery of aid to hard-hit north Gaza for starving civilians there.

Leading global aid organizations say Israel — which is heavily dependent on U.S. arms and military aid — fell far short of meeting the U.S. demand to allow in an adequate number of aid trucks, and in some other ways worsened conditions for civilians.

That includes Israeli lawmakers newly banning the main U.N. agency that provides aid to Palestinians.

U.N. officials said as the end of the U.S. deadline neared that the entire population of north Gaza is now at imminent risk of dying from famine, airstrikes or other threats.

“We would expect that there be some consequences when things get even worse,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said in the run-up to the vote on the measures. Fellow Democratic Sens. Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Peter Welch of Vermont also joined Sanders in the appeal.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor that he will “strongly oppose” the measures.

“Israel needs to protect itself not just today, but also tomorrow and next year and beyond,” Schumer said. “It has been a cornerstone of American policy to give Israel the resources it needs to defend against its enemies. We should not stray from that policy today.”

Sen. Ben Cardin, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, read what he said was a message from the White House urging lawmakers to defeat the measures.

Middle East cease-fire negotiations

The move to block arms to the U.S. ally came at a delicate time in Middle East cease-fire negotiations and would “put wind in the sails of Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas at the worst possible moment,” Mr. Cardin quoted the White House as warning.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham also argued for defeat of the bills. “This signal will be seen by the enemies of Israel, and the enemies of peace, that if they just stick with it they will win,” he said.

Centrist and progressive Democratic lawmakers and Mr. Sanders have made repeated runs during the more than 1-year-old war at convincing the White House and Congress to condition U.S. arms shipments to Israel on improved treatment of Palestinian civilians in the offensive.

The Biden administration has increased its warnings and appeals to Mr. Netanyahu to do more to spare civilians in airstrikes and other attacks, and to allow more aid to reach Gaza. The Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks that started the war killed about 1,200.

The death toll of Gazans killed since then was nearing 44,000 on Wednesday. Health officials in Gaza do not distinguish between civilians and combatants in tracking deaths.

Other than pausing one planned shipment of 2,000-pound bombs, Mr. Biden — at 82, a stalwart supporter of Israel since its modern founding — has rejected calls to limit military support to Israel.

Mr. Sanders, on the Senate floor, said the continuing flow of U.S. arms to Israel for the war violated U.S. law and undermined U.S. standing in the world.

Other governments will say to Americans, “’Don’t give us advice, don’t criticize us, when you have supported the mass starvation of children with your tax dollars,” he said.

Republicans have stood firmly behind Netanyahu and will control both chambers of Congress next year as President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

The U.S.’s roughly $18 billion in military support for Israel during the war was a politically divisive issue in the U.S. presidential campaign, with Republicans vowing to keep up undiminished backing for Israel.

Mr. Trump has vowed strong support for Israel and has called on Netanyahu to bring the Gaza war to a quick close. He has offered few specifics on his plans on that.