WASHINGTON (AP) — Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders forced an effort in the Senate on Wednesday to block the sale of some offensive weapons to Israel for its war…
Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders forced an effort in the Senate on Wednesday to block the sale of some offensive weapons to Israel for its war in Gaza over mounting civilian deaths there.
The Vermont lawmaker and a small group of Democrats put legislation up for a Senate vote that would block the transfer of some tank and mortar rounds, as well as kits that convert bombs into more precisely targeted weapons, to Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government “has not simply waged war against against Hamas. It has waged an all-out war against the Palestinian people,” Sanders told lawmakers from the Senate floor.
Known as joint resolutions of disapproval, the measure would have to pass both houses of Congress and withstand any presidential veto to become binding. Congress has never succeeded in blocking arms sales with the joint resolutions. But the vote served as a test of broader frustration among Democrats at the war and President Joe Biden’s handling of relations with Israel.
Lawmakers’ move comes after a 30-day Biden administration deadline came and went earlier this month for Netanyahu to meet specific U.S. targets to improve its treatment of Palestinian civilians in Gaza trapped in the war. U.S. demands included that Israel lift a near-total ban on delivery of aid to hard-hit north Gaza for starving civilians there.
