In Landmark Vote, 19 Senate Democrats Oppose Arms Sales to Israel - U.S. News - Haaretz.com
WASHINGTON – Nineteen Democratic senators effectively voted to block U.S. arms sales to Israel, in a landmark moment that demonstrates how Israel's standing within the Democratic Party nearly 14 months after the October 7 attack and the ensuing Gaza war and humanitarian crisis have largely defined outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden's foreign policy legacy.
Eighteen Senate Democrats voted opposing a $774 million sale of 120mm tank rounds while 19 opposed a $61 million sale of 120mm high explosive mortar rounds in two separate votes. The third and final vote on a $262 million sale of joint direct attack munitions (JDAMs) is ongoing.
The vote, which in reality represented a disapproval vote rather than an actual effort to block the sales, followed fierce lobbying efforts from the Jewish establishment, the White House and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer against Sanders' effort.
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The senators to vote opposing the sale of the tank rounds are: Sens. Martin Heinrich, Mazie Hirono, Tim Kaine, Angus King, Ed Markey, Jeff Merkley, Jon Ossoff, Bernie Sanders, Brian Schatz, Tina Smith, Elizabeth Warren, Peter Welch, Dick Durbin, Chris Van Hollen, Jeanne Shaheen, Ben Ray Lujan, Raphael Warnock, Chris Murphy. The votes include three of the nine Jewish Democrats in the Senate in Sanders, Ossoff and Schatz.
The significant efforts, which included a Hill appearance from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken shortly before the vote, indicated how important the resolutions' opponents considered the measures.
Liberal and progressive Jewish organizations like J Street and Americans for Peace Now, meanwhile, lobbied in favor of the legislation, setting a new precedent in its own right about prominent Jewish organizations willing to hold Israel accountable in this form.
Prior to the vote, opponents of the three resolutions were aiming to keep the supporting votes between 10 and 15 while its proponents were hoping for as many as 25 affirmative votes.
Under Senate rules, the Vermont lawmaker was permitted to force a vote for consideration – unlike the House, which would be forced to go through committee. The arms sales targeted by Sanders are specifically directed toward a $20 billion weapons deal — perhaps the most significant sales to Israel in American history — announced in August, months after Congress finally managed to pass the Biden administration's $14 billion in emergency military assistance to Israel.
Earlier this summer, two key Democratic leaders in Congress informally signed off on the sale, after initially expressing opposition following intense pressure from both the Biden administration and pro-Israel advocates to allow the sale to move forward.
The votes on each measure were guaranteed to fail, with the votes being framed instead as a litmus test on how deep discontent within the Democratic Party lies. Beyond that, the votes were simply to advance the resolutions out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to the Senate floor, further illustrating the votes' symbolic nature.
"The United States government must obey the law. We must pass these resolutions from a moral perspective. The United States must not provide support to a government which has created one of the worst humanitarian disasters in modern history. We must pass these resolutions for our own best foreign policy interests," Sanders said from the Senate floor prior to the vote. "If we do not demand that the countries we provide military assistance to obey international law, we will lose our credibility on the world stage."
"U.S. taxpayer-funded security assistance can't be a blank check — it must be used in line with our interests, values and laws. The Netanyahu government is violating that principle and we should pause delivery of offensive weapons until it complies," added Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who was joined by Sens. Jeff Merkley and Peter Welch in speaking in favor of the resolutions.
Palestinians gathering to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza, on Tuesday.Credit: Hatem Khaled/Reuters
Schumer took to the floor to decry the resolutions, calling it "a cornerstone of American policy to give Israel the resources it needs to defend itself against its enemies" while noting most of the arms in question will only be relevant years down the line. He added that voting for the resolution as a means to voice disapproval toward Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be ill advised.
Sen. Jacky Rosen, a pro-Israel stalwart in the Democratic Party, lamented that senators would vote in favor of the resolution as a means to send a message to the Netanyahu government. "Governments and leaders come and go, while our support for our ally will remain, she said.
Republican Sens. Jim Risch, Lindsey Graham, Ted Budd and John Kennedy joined Democrats Rosen, Schumer and Senate Foreign Relations Chair Ben Cardin in speaking against the resolutions.
"Instead of acknowledging that American support for Israel is strong, these resolutions seek to say that support for Israel has changed. It has not," Risch said. Graham, meanwhile, called for Israel-Saudi normalization during the Biden lame-duck period, arguing that Sanders' efforts undercut efforts to achieve this.
Sanders first announced in September that he was specifically targeting the five sales that he argued do not abide by U.S. laws requiring that arms transfers "must be consistent with internationally recognized human rights, advance U.S. foreign policy interests and avoid U.S. complicity with any human rights violations."
U.S. senators were particularly concerned about the JDAMs and 120mm tank rounds, due to what Sanders deemed their "indiscriminate use in Gaza. These systems account for many of the 40,534 deaths and nearly 94,000 injuries in Gaza so far – 60 percent of whom are women, children, or elderly people. Reliable human rights monitors have documented numerous incidents involving these systems leading to unacceptable civilian death and harm."
U.S. Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine in Washington last week.Credit: Allison Robbert/AFP
Six U.S. senators — five of whom are confirmed to vote to formally disapprove of $20 billion in arms sales to Israel — met with Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Herzog shortly before the vote.
In the meeting, Sens. Welch, Van Holllen, Merkley, Dick Durbin, Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren "urged the Netanyahu government to rush life-saving medical aid to Palestinians and immediately begin expediting evacuations of children and other civilians with complex medical needs," per Welch communications director Aaron White.
The senators' push comes days after they were among the nearly 90 Democrats pushing the Biden administration to sanction far-right Israeli ministers and pro-settlement groups in the last weeks before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump assumes power.
The Jewish organizations that fiercely lobbied against one another each said the votes proved their desired outcome.
Americans for Peace Now CEO Hadar Susskind, whose organization was among the first national Jewish groups to call for conditioning aid, noted the votes were "not about the platitudes of 'pro-Israel' or 'anti-Israel.' It is about the United States following our own laws and about supporting a viable future for Israel and Palestine, one that includes peace, security, justice, and sovereignty for both peoples. The senators who supported this effort deserve the thanks of everyone who supports that vision."
"This vote marks a milestone in the ongoing evolution of the U.S.-Israel relationship," said J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami. "This debate and vote signify another step toward a relationship in which the U.S. can hold Israel accountable for its actions and its use of the weapons we provide in the same way we enforce U.S. laws for all other recipients of U.S. security assistance."
"It is also a marker of growing support in the political arena for using the leverage we do have to impact the Israeli government's actions and policies and as an incentive toward a path we believe leads to Israel's long-term security and regional peace," he continued.
Ben-Ami added that the supporting votes indicates "growing concern over the direction that the far-right government of Israel is leading the country. It is a manifestation of deep discomfort over the extent of the human tragedy the Israeli government is inflicting on Gaza and the lack of any commitment by the Netanyahu government to a feasible post-conflict plan for governance and security that leads toward a resolution of the underlying political conflict."
Jewish Democratic Council of America CEO Halie Soifer noted "the Democratic Party stands with Israel as it faces grave security threats from Iran and its proxies, Hamas, and Hezbollah. As the Biden White House stated in a memo to the Senate, 'Now is the time to focus pressure on Hamas to release the hostages and stop the war. Cutting off arms from Israel would put this goal even further out of reach and prolong the war, not shorten it.'"
Republican Jewish Coalition CEO Matt Brooks, meanwhile, said Wednesday's debate and vote "marks a dangerous new low for anti-Israel Democrats in the U.S. Senate, who voted to cancel $20 billion in pending arms sales to Israel that were already authorized by Congress."
Democratic Majority for Israel CEO Mark Mellman: These dangerous and counterproductive resolutions are a betrayal of our ally, Israel, as it fights a defensive war. That's why the clear and decisive majority of Democratic senators voted to defeat them.
"Today, Democrats reaffirmed, once again, that the majority of our party stands firmly with the Israeli people and supports Israel's security, especially in this critical time. While a few vocal anti-Israel voices in our party often get outsized attention, the majority of Senate Democrats remain steadfast in support of Israel's sovereignty and right to self-defense."
AIPAC, for its part, issued a statement saying that it "commends the U.S. Senate for standing with Israel and overwhelmingly rejecting proposed bans on critical weapons sales to the Jewish state as it fights to protect its families from Iran and its terrorist proxies. We applaud the Biden administration for approving these sales and helping ensure Israel has the resources it needs to win."