The senator has more allies than ever in his fight to hold Israel accountable and save lives in Gaza.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) at a news conference on upcoming joint resolutions of disapproval aimed at blocking sales of certain offensive weapons to Israel in Washington, DC on November 19, 2024.
(Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
For most of the year, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has called on Congress to block more military aid and arms sales to Israel to save lives in Gaza. In January, he responded to the Biden administration’s request for $10 billion in additional aid to Israel. announcing“Enough. Congress should cut this funding. The taxpayers of the United States should no longer participate in the destruction of the lives of innocent men, women and children in Gaza.” A month later, after voting against a $95 billion supplemental appropriations bill, he said, “As long as this bill contains (funding) that allows the right-wing Netanyahu government to continue its horrific war against the Palestinian people, I will continue to vote NO.” »
The fight Sanders continued to wage through 2024 in the Senate, where aid packages to Israel have passed with little opposition for decades, was often a lonely one. But Sanders is no longer so alone.
The senator and former presidential candidate is joined by a growing number of senators and activist groups supporting efforts to win approval of three historic Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRD) that block the sale of certain US offensive weapons to Israel. The JRDs, expected to be voted on today, are the only legislative tool available to senators seeking to block the Biden administration’s efforts to sell an additional $20 billion in arms to Israel, and Sanders says:
There is no longer any doubt that the extremist government of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu is in clear violation of American and international law when it wages a barbaric war against the Palestinian people in Gaza. Out of a population of 2.2 million, more than 43,000 Palestinians were killed and 102,000 wounded, 60% of whom were women, children and the elderly. Israel has destroyed 70 percent of Gaza’s housing, civilian infrastructure, the health system, and hundreds of schools. He bombed each of Gaza’s 12 universities.
As terrible as the past year has been (since the October 7th Hamas attack), the current situation is even worse. Today, Israel continues to restrict the flow of food and medicine to desperate people. Tens of thousands of Palestinians suffer from malnutrition and hunger. The amount of aid flowing into Gaza is lower than at any time in the past year. Blocking humanitarian aid violates the Foreign Aid Act as well as the Geneva Convention.
Sanders is still fighting an uphill battle. Even now, the vast majority of senators do not want to break with the Biden administration and the Netanyahu government on the issue of arms sales.
But Sanders now has some famous allies in the fight, including Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who expressed deep disappointment at the lack of accountability for Netanyahu’s refusal to meet U.S. demands for increased humanitarian aid, including “food, water and basic necessities for desperate Palestinian civilians.” Warren noted last week, “despite Netanyahu’s failure to meet the United States’ demands, the Biden administration has taken no action to limit the flow of offensive weapons.” She added: “The Biden administration’s failure to comply with US law and suspend arms shipments is a serious mistake that undermines America’s credibility around the world. If this administration fails to act, Congress must step up enforcement of US law and hold the Netanyahu government accountable through a Joint Resolution of Dissent.”
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Three other senators — Democrats Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Peter Welch of Vermont and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland — plan to support resolutions that would block the sale of 120 mm tank shells, 120 mm high-explosive mortars and JDAMs, the guided-missile kits to the many bombs dropped in Gaza. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) is also expected to support at least one resolution.
A number of organizations are urging the Senate to support Sanders’ initiative, including J Street, a progressive Jewish rights group that calls itself the leader of America’s “pro-Israel, peace, pro-democracy movement” and has significant influence over liberal Democrats on Capitol Hill. On Monday, J Street called out the senators vote for at least one of the resolutions to “send a message of disapproval of the Netanyahu government’s conduct of the war in Gaza and the disrespect it has shown for the Biden administration and international law, as well as the failure of the US administration to enforce American law and leverage Netanyahu’s policies and actions.”
“A yes vote on at least one resolution of dissent sends a signal, visible throughout Washington, American politics, the Middle East, and the world, that Washington has the political will to oppose the conduct of the war, enforce American laws, and use leverage, which we have when the government of Israel consistently defies the will of the American president.” says J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami.
Group Jewish Voice for Peacewhich has been much bolder in its opposition to Netanyahu and the Israeli assault on Gaza, is also pushing for a yes vote on the resolutions. “There is no end to grief, sorrow and pain. And it is funded and enforced by the Biden administration, which continues to arm the Israeli government. Congress must step in,” says the JVP. “For the first time in US history, Congress will vote to block arms to Israel. Senators Bernie Sanders, Peter Welch and Jeff Merkley have introduced joint resolutions of disapproval to stop the $20 billion in arms sales approved by the Biden administration.”
The move by Sanders and his allies received significant support from faith-based, civil rights and peace organizations that have long advocated for peace in the Middle East, such as the Friends Committee on National Legislation, the Arab American Institute and Peace Action. Some of the country’s largest unions also support the resolutions.
In a particularly bold statement issued Monday, the Service Employees International Union, which represents about 2 million workers and has long worked closely with the Biden administration and Senate Democrats, urged senators to support the resolutions. “SEIU members have made it clear that they want to end the use of taxpayer dollars to fund military aid that allows attacks on innocent civilians in Gaza.” declared SEIU International President April Verrett. “It is time for senators to take action to help bring about a peaceful resolution to this conflict.”
That peaceful solution will remain out of reach, Sanders argues, unless the US can stand up to Netanyahu. “Obviously, what is happening in Gaza today is unspeakable, but what makes it even more painful is that much of it was done with American weapons and American taxpayer dollars. In the last year alone, the United States has provided Israel with $18 billion in military aid and more than 50,000 tons of military equipment,” Sanders said Monday. “In other words, the US is complicit in these atrocities. This complicity must end, and that is what these resolutions are about. It is time to tell the Netanyahu government that they cannot use US taxpayer dollars and US weapons in violation of US and international law and our moral values.”
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