This week, the Senate rejected a Bernie Sanders effort to block arm sales to Israel.
This has happened before. Last fall, Sanders introduced Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRDs) for ammunition, fighter jets, and other weapons. Just 18 Senators backed the bill. When Sanders put forward a similar piece of legislation in April, that number had dwindled to 15.
This time around, 27 Senators voted for the resolutions. That’s 1/4 of the Senate.
A number of ardent Israel supporters joined the Vermont Senator. New names included Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s ranking member Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Senate Armed Services ranking member Sen. Jack Reed, (D-RI), and Senate Appropriations ranking member Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA).
In the scheme of things, votes like this don’t mean much. Even if such resolutions somehow made it out of Congress, they obviously wouldn’t be implemented by the Trump administration.
However, these surprising results did not occur in a vacuum. They come amid daily stories of Palestinians starving and increasing criticisms of Israel from pundits and lawmakers.
Prior to the Sanders vote, Sen. Angus King (I-ME) made his position clear: “For these reasons, I am through supporting the actions of the current Israeli government and will advocate—and vote—for an end to any United States support whatsoever until there is a demonstrable change in the direction of Israeli policy. My litmus test will be simple: no aid of any kind as long as there are starving children in Gaza due to the action or inaction of the Israeli government.”
We just witnessed Zohran Mamdani’s victory in New York City. We saw educators vote to cut ties with the ADL. We heard about a U.S. union organizer kidnapped and beaten by Israeli forces for attempting to deliver aid to Gaza.
Then there’s the polling.
We’ve long known that Israel’s reputation was cratering among the Democratic base, and the genocide has understandably accelerated this process. Some new polling puts the situation in perspective.
A Data for Progress survey shows that 78% of NYC Democratic primary voters believe Israel is carrying out a genocide, and 63% want the city to enforce the ICC arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A Zenith Research/Public Progress Solutions poll has Mamdani getting 43% of the Jewish vote. 67% of Jewish voters between the ages of 18 and 44 say they back him. It’s clear that the repeated attempts to smear Mamdani as an antisemite have failed. However, based on the overall polling on the issue, it also seems clear that Mamdani’s defense of Palestinian rights helped him win the nomination.
The most important new poll comes from Gallup: just 32% of Americans say they support what Israel is doing in Gaza, and Netanyahu has an approval rating of 29%. That’s an all-time low for both.
After the Sanders vote, AIPAC predictably put out a statement celebrating the results.
“AIPAC applauds the U.S. Senate for standing with Israel and once again rejecting Senator Sanders’ attempt to ban vital weapons sales to the Jewish state as it fights to protect its families from Iran and its terrorist proxies,” it read. “Several times in less than a year, the overwhelming bipartisan majority of the Senate has repeatedly rebuffed Bernie Sanders’ dangerous efforts to undermine Israel’s security.”
“We commend the Trump administration for approving these sales and helping ensure Israel has the resources it needs to win,” the lobbying group continued. “Blocking the sales would have degraded Israel’s military edge, undermined its deterrence in the region, and incentivized Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah to continue their war to destroy the Jewish state. However, the majority of the Senate sent a strong bipartisan message that America stands with Israel in its just fight.”
It’s difficult to take these sentiments seriously. AIPAC might be putting on a defiant face, but everything previously mentioned in this newsletter is bad news for the Israel Lobby.
A couple of weeks ago, new Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI) President Brian Romick released a more believable statement in which he lamented a number of “troubling developments” within the Democratic Party.
According to Romick, recent events added up to a “troubling pattern” as pro-Israel voices are facing increasing “marginalization…across the progressive landscape.”
You can find a similar level of consternation in a new Jewish Insider (JI) article, which details how former Obama staffers, like Ben Rhodes and the Pod Save America hosts, are criticizing Israel with more force.
“The anti-Israel activism from the Democratic influencers is a public example of the intense lobbying taking place in party circles and how progressive foreign policy officials such as Rhodes who have long been deeply critical of Israel are pushing to turn humanitarian concerns in Gaza into a more permanent split between the Democratic Party and Israel,” wrote JI’s Danielle Cohen-Kanik.
Back to the Bernie vote.
Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) backed Sanders’ first effort, and even gave a pretty good speech explaining his vote. He was subsequently attacked by Israel Lobby groups over the move and fell in line by April, voting against very similar Sanders resolutions.
This week, Ossoff voted again in support of the resolutions. It’s important to note that he faces a reelection campaign next year.
In other words, he knows which way the wind is blowing.
AIPAC corrects the rumor that it opposes starvation
Earlier this month, the Times of Israel reported that AIPAC might have dropped its support for the Islamophobic, racist, pro-genocide Congress member Randy Fine (R-FL).
AIPAC had endorsed Fine ahead of his 2025 House race, but his name stopped appearing in the organization’s database of endorsed candidates for the 2026 midterms. The omission was first noticed by Justice Democrats communications director Usamah Andrabi.
It was believed that AIPAC might have pulled its endorsement over Fine’s open endorsement of famine. The Representative had tweeted an ABC story about Palestinians dying from malnutrition and wrote, “Release the hostages. Until then, starve away. (This is all a lie anyway. It amazes me that the media continues to regurgitate Muslim terror propaganda.)”
As soon as this news broke, AIPAC quickly rushed to correct the record.
“This reporting is based on an unsourced speculative piece,” the group tweeted. “We will be endorsing candidates for the 2026 election throughout the cycle. Current endorsees for 2026 so far are listed on the AIPAC-PAC website. As Rep. Fine was elected only in April, consideration of his endorsement will take place later in the cycle, as is the case with many other freshmen members of Congress.”
So please, make no mistake: despite unfounded rumors, the country’s largest pro-Israel lobbying organization does not oppose a policy of starving children, and it has not ruled out endorsing people who do.
Having said that, AIPAC’s justification for the omission doesn’t exactly make sense.
“It’s not clear why the group would choose only to list endorsees for 2026, and why Fine wouldn’t be grandfathered in after earning the group’s endorsement just four months ago,” notes TNR’s Edith Olmsted. “After all, the group did pour more than $126,000 into Fine’s campaign, according to FEC filings. Now they say they need more time to decide?”
Since the story broke, Fine has reiterated his support for famine.
“There is no starvation,” he recently tweeted. “Everything about the ‘Palestinian’ cause is a lie.”
Odds & Ends
🫏 Lawmakers pressure Trump on Gaza aid, as support for Israel craters among Democrats
🙏 Don’t stop talking about the famine in Gaza
🇺🇸 U.S. security contractor: ‘I saw Israel commit war crimes at Gaza aid sites’
📰 The New York Times commitment to Zionism begins with its own staff
🏴 Responsible Statecraft: Not Blackwater or Wagner, Americans in Gaza are 100% mercenaries
📈 Common Dreams: ‘The Tide Is Turning,’ Says Sanders as Majority of Senate Dems Vote to Block Arms Sales to Israel
🐘 Politico: MAGA is turning on Israel over Gaza, but Trump is unmoved
🇮🇱 Counterpunch: The Genocidal Partnership of Israel and the United States
🤔 Truthout: Democrat Touts Opposition to Starvation in Gaza — But Blames US Protesters
↪️ Axios: Trump changes tone on Gaza humanitarian crisis
🪧 Times of Israel: 35 US rabbis arrested in separate NYC and DC demonstrations for Gaza food aid
🎓 Al Jazeera: Columbia University suspends, expels nearly 80 students over Gaza protests