US Senate to consider dead-in-the-water measures to block weapons sales to Israel

The US Senate could vote as soon as Wednesday on legislation that would block arms sales to Israel, backed by lawmakers who say Israel is obstructing aid shipments desperately needed by Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

The “resolutions of disapproval” were filed by Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats. Strong bipartisan support for Israel means the resolutions are not expected to pass, but backers hope they will encourage Israel’s government and President Joe Biden’s administration to do more.

“This war has been conducted almost entirely with American weapons and $18 billion in US taxpayer dollars. Israel has dropped US-provided 2,000-pound bombs into crowded neighborhoods, killed hundreds of civilians to take out a handful of Hamas fighters, and made little effort to distinguish between civilians and combatants,” Sanders says in a statement.

“These actions are immoral and illegal,” he says.

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen on Monday says he supported the joint resolutions of disapproval, as did Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren last week.

US law gives Congress the right to stop major foreign weapons sales by passing resolutions of disapproval. Although no such resolution has both passed Congress and survived a presidential veto, the law requires the Senate to vote if a resolution is filed. Such resolutions have at times led to angry debates, embarrassing to past presidents.