The Times of Israel is liveblogging Thursday’s events as they happen.
NJ Democrat joins opposition to Israel arms sales by voting against mortar round shipment
The second measure to stop the sale of mortar rounds to Israel is also defeated, though Democratic Senator George Helmy of New Jersey votes in favor to bring the number of lawmakers who support blocking the arms transfer to 19.
Helmy was appointed by New Jeresy’s governor to fill the seat on an interim basis when senator Bob Menendez — who was long one of the Senate’s most stalwart pro-Israel Democrats — resigned after being convicted on corruption charges. Helmy opted not to run in the November election, which was won by the more moderate US Representative Andy Kim.
Just over 1/3 of Senate Dems back failed motion to stop sale of tank rounds to Israel
Just over a third of Senate Democrats have voted in favor of a failed bid to block the sale of tank rounds to Israel in a measure that tested the strength of the party’s progressive wing, which has pushed for a harder line against the Jewish state over its prosecution of the war against Hamas in Gaza.
Eighteen lawmakers — all Democrats — voted in favor of the measure brought by Sen. Bernie Sanders along with three progressive colleagues, while 79 lawmakers from both parties rejected it.
It was the first of three Joint Resolutions of Disaproval (JRD) brought by the Sanders-led progressives, with the latter measures aimed at blocking the sale of mortar rounds and joint direct attack munitions (JDAMs). The three weapon transfers amount to over $20 billion in security assistance.
A majority of Democratic senators rejected the effort, which was known ahead of time to be dead-on-arrival. However, the number of Democrats uncomfortable with Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has apparently increased.
A Sanders resolution last January to freeze US aid to Israel if the State Department didn’t produce a report within 30 days on alleged human rights violations by Israel in Gaza won only 10 Democratic votes.
Today’s vote is unlikely to fully satisfy either side of the debate within the Democratic Party, given that more pro-Israel members maintained their majority, while progressives added several notable members.
Both Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock from Georgia voted to block the weapon sale along with the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate Dick Durbin and the incoming Ranking Member of Senate Foreign Relations Committee Jeanne Shaheen. None of those four voted in favor of the Sanders-led resolution in January.
Other Democrats who voted in favor were Senators Martin Heinrich, Mazie Hirono, Tim Kaine, Angus King, Ed Markey, Jeff Merkley, Brian Schatz, Tina Smith, Elizabeth Warren, Peter Welch, Chris Van Hollen, Ben Ray Lujan and Chris Murphy.
One Democrat, Wisconsin’s Senator Tammy Baldwin, voted present.
In bringing the measure to a vote, Sanders detailed the spiraling humanitarian crisis in Gaza, highlighting the tens of thousands of civilians killed and the increasingly dire conditions of those who have managed to survive. He cited testimony from the UN and aid organizations claiming that Israel is blocking humanitarian aid from reaching civilians. Israel says it takes steps to avoid harming civilian, while Hamas fights among them, and it has rejected assertions that it is blocking aid to Palestinians.
The Biden administration lobbied Democrats against supporting the measure, US officials revealed to The Times of Israel yesterday, arguing that withholding such weapons from Israel would embolden Israel’s adversaries, that it would not address the humanitarian crisis and robs Israel from what it needs to defend itself.
US State Department denounces Ben Gvir for visiting extremist rabbi’s grave
After photos are published of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir visiting the grave of extremist Rabbi Meir Kahane, the US State Department issues a statement condemning the far-right cabinet member.
“As we’ve said in previous and similar occasions, celebrating the legacy of a terrorist and a terrorist organization is abhorrent. We strongly condemn any attempt to whitewash acts of terrorism,” says a State Department spokesperson.
השר איתמר בן גביר בעלייה לקבר הרב כהנא ביום ההילולא. pic.twitter.com/IJcTHlwl4T
— דביר עמר (@dviramar2) November 19, 2024
Report: Netanyahu looking to ban establishment of state committee of inquiry into Oct. 7
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is attempting to promote legislation that will ban the establishment of a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 Hamas terror onslaught, Channel 13 reports.
According to the report, the legislation will instead allow for the establishment of a political commission of inquiry, which would be chaired by one coalition lawmaker and one opposition lawmaker. Senior security officials would also serve on the panel, the report states.
Netanyahu has repeatedly put off the establishment of a state commission of inquiry, which is the body that enjoys the broadest powers until Israeli law, to investigate the government’s failures that enabled the deadly Hamas attacks, claiming that all investigations must wait until the fighting in Gaza ends.
Earlier this month, however, the Israel Hayom daily reported that the premier was mulling the establishment of an alternate “special committee” to probe the matter.
Responding to the Channel 13 report on X, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid warns that a political commission of inquiry “cannot and will not happen.”
“We will only vote in favor of a state commission of inquiry,” he adds.
MK Merav Ben Ari, of Lapid’s Yesh Atid party, similarly voices opposition to the reported plan, and vows that the opposition “will not cooperate” with Netanyahu’s attempt to “escape his responsibility for the October 7 massacres.”
“We will use every parliamentary right we have to torpedo the laws,” she promises.