The Senate voted overwhelmingly Thursday to reject a pair of resolutions from socialist Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) meant to halt arms sales to Israel.
Sanders put forward two joint resolutions of disapproval to halt the Trump administration’s planned $8.8 billion sale of bombs and other weaponry to Israel as it resumes fighting against Hamas in Gaza.
The Senate voted down the resolutions, with just 15 Democrats voting in support of both resolutions; all Republicans and most Democrats voted against them. The split among Democrats reflects a deep fissure between the party’s activist left and mainstream liberals on Israel, a long-running divide that grew significantly under President Joe Biden.
Progressive Democratic Senators including Peter Welch (Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Ed Markey (Mass.), Brian Schatz (Hawaii), Mazie Hirono (Hawaii), and Chris Van Hollen (Md.) were among those who voted for Sanders’s resolutions. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.), outgoing Senator Tina Smith (Minn.), and newly elected Senator Andy Kim (D., N.J.) were also part of the group of 15 who backed Sanders.
“This is barbaric. So let us be clear. The United States must end our complicity in these atrocities. We cannot be part of this any longer,” Sanders said in a video ahead of the vote, in reference to the war in Gaza.
“As many of you know, I strongly opposed President Biden’s blank check military aid to Israel and I am equally opposed to what President Trump is doing.”
Sanders delivered a speech on the Senate floor Thursday railing against Israel’s military campaign and the lack of humanitarian aid for the people in Gaza.
The Biden administration, with congressional support, provided billions worth of military aid to Israel to support its war against Hamas following the mass atrocities on October 7, 2023. Sanders forced similar votes last year on discontinuing Biden’s military aid to Israel, and they were soundly rejected in the same fashion.
As Biden’s term ended and Trump prepared to take office in January, U.S. negotiators worked with Egypt and Qatar to broker a temporary cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas to pause the fighting.
Over a six-week period, Hamas released 33 hostages, 25 living and 8 dead, in exchange for approximately 1,900 Palestinian prisoners with the fighting in Gaza stopped. The cease-fire ended last month when negotiations collapsed and Hamas refused to release the remaining hostages it holds in captivity, including American citizen Edan Alexander.
Israel resumed strikes on Gaza in March when the talks collapsed and ordered troops to seize more territory in Gaza unless Hamas frees the hostages. For the time being, Israel is holding up humanitarian aid to get Hamas back to the negotiating table.
President Donald Trump is a strong supporter of Israel and has repeatedly threatened retaliation against Hamas if it refuses to release the hostages. The Trump administration has also launched investigations into colleges and universities over anti-Israel and antisemitic campus activity, and has attempted to deport Hamas sympathizers living and studying in the U.S. on visas.