Just over 1/3 of Senate Dems back failed motion to stop sale of tank rounds to Israel

By Jacob Magid

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21 November 2024, 3:21 am

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Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), joined by fellow senators U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and U.S. Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT), listens to a question at a news conference on restricting arms sales to Israel at the U.S. Capitol on November 19, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images/AFP)

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 $10 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.