Group of US Senate Democrats fail to block weapon sales to Israel

Israeli protesters carry placards and show their palms covered in red paint as they block the road in front of the US Embassy branch office in Tel Aviv on November 20, 2024, during a demonstration calling for an arms embargo. Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON — A group of Democratic senators failed in their bid to block shipments of US weapons to Israel after several procedural motions were voted down in the upper chamber Wednesday evening.

The long shot initiative was led by progressive Senator Bernie Sanders, who caucuses with Joe Biden’s Democratic Party and has been a vocal opponent of Israel’s offensive in Gaza.

Accusing the United States of “complicity” in human rights “atrocities,” Sanders said that nonstop aid for Israel would undermine US credibility on other geopolitical issues.

READ: US approves $20 billion weapons package for Israel

“Nobody is going to take anything you say with a grain of seriousness,” said the 83-year-old, who recently won re-election to another six-year term.

“They will say to you, ‘You’re concerned about China, you’re concerned about Russia, you’re concerned about Iran. Well, why are you funding the starvation of children in Gaza right now?'”

Sanders introduced what are called Joint Resolutions of Disapproval, seeking to block the Biden administration’s recent sale of $20 billion in US weapons to Israel.

Moves to advance three resolutions all failed, garnering only around 20 votes out of the chamber’s 100 members, with most Democrats joining all Republicans against the measures.

READ: Netanyahu vows extended Gaza war, thanks US for new arms sales

The Biden administration has steadfastly backed Israel while counseling restraint for more than a year.

US officials had recently warned Israel its military aid could be at risk if the humanitarian situation did not improve in Gaza, but ultimately declined to withhold any assistance.

Republican Senator Mitch McConnell said that such a move would “only empower and embolden terrorists like Hamas and Hezbollah.”

The war began first began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said the death toll from the resulting war had reached 43,985 people, the majority civilians. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.