Bernie Sanders to force Senate vote on blocking arms sales to Israel

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., plans to force a vote on banning arms sales to Israel, a move that will prove to be a test for Senate Democrats whose position on the Jewish state has shifted in recent weeks.

Sanders, an independent who routinely caucuses with Senate Democrats, announced he would force a vote on a pair of resolutions to block the $675 million sale of thousands of bombs and guidance kits for the bombs and to halt the sale of “tens of thousands” of automatic rifles to Israel.

“U.S. taxpayers have spent tens of billions of dollars in support of the racist, extremist Netanyahu government,” Sanders said in a statement. “Enough is enough.”

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It’s not the first time Sanders has pushed to block arms sales or military aid to the Jewish state. Since December 2023, just months after the conflict between Israel and Hamas began, the lawmaker has either introduced or forced votes on resolutions five times, each intended to block military aid and billions of dollars in munitions and arms.

His latest attempt comes after photos revealed starving children in Gaza, which he squarely blamed on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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“The time is long overdue for Congress to use the leverage we have — tens of billions in arms and military aid — to demand that Israel end these atrocities,” he said.

The vote, expected late Thursday, comes as Senate Democrats have undergone a tonal shift on Israel since the events of Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas executed a brutal attack on Israeli soil.

Sanders’ last attempt earlier this year that sought to block over $8 billion in arms sales, saw 15 Senate Democrats vote for it, while all Senate Republicans voted against it. Though the resolutions are likely to fail as his previous attempts have, more Democrats are expected to vote alongside him. 

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Earlier this week, 40 Senate Democrats wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and called on the administration to push for “a large-scale expansion of humanitarian assistance and services throughout the Gaza Strip.”

Senate Republicans have largely blamed the reported conditions in Gaza on Hamas, with some calling for more food aid making its way into the Gaza Strip. President Donald Trump vowed that more food centers, administered by Israel, would be coming.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said he shared Trump’s view and that there was a desire to “meet that need and alleviate that pain.”

“But you got to understand, too, that when you got a terrorist group like Hamas operating in that region, they intercept and divert a lot of that food aid that’s going in there,” he said. “That’s the challenge that the Israelis have. That’s the challenge that we have and other nations around the world.”