More Senate Democrats than ever before voted to halt arms sales and military bulldozers to Israel as an act of protest against President Donald Trump’s war in Iran.
The late-night vote on Wednesday, which saw both of Sen. Bernie Sanders’, I-Vt., resolutions fail, signaled a shift among Senate Democrats, who in several previous attempts by the progressive had joined Republicans to support the Jewish state.
Combined, Sanders’ resolutions would have blocked nearly $500 million in arms and equipment sales to Israel. One resolution would have halted the sale of roughly $295 million in Caterpillar bulldozers, while the other would have stopped the sale of nearly $152 million worth of 1,000-pound bombs.
Though they failed without Republican support, Sanders viewed the swell of Democratic backing as “progress.”
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“Today, more than 80% of the Democratic caucus stood with the American people and voted to block U.S. military aid to [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and his horrific, illegal wars,” Sanders said in a statement.
“When we started this effort there were just 11 votes,” he continued. “Now, there are 40. That shift reflects where the American people are.”
The shift comes after Israel’s strikes in Lebanon threatened a fragile ceasefire, and broader peace talks, to end fighting in Iran.
Senate Democrats weren’t fully aligned on both resolutions — 40 supported halting the sale of bulldozers to Israel, while 36 voted to block bomb sales. Notably, the last time the Senate voted to disapprove arms sales to Israel, 27 Democrats voted yes. Before that, only 19 did.
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Notably, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who has been a vocal critic of the war, voted against Sanders’ resolutions.
Lawmakers who flipped their votes were quick to stress that they still support Israel but viewed their votes against the sale of weapons and military equipment as a referendum on the war in Iran.
Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., who previously voted against Sanders’ attempts to halt arms sales to the Jewish state, said in a statement that her decision to flip was “informed by President Trump’s and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s reckless decision to go to war.”
“I have serious questions about any supplemental expenditures for this war, let alone additional sales of weapons for the same war to Israel,” Hassan said.
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The vote, coupled with overwhelming Democratic support to rein in President Donald Trump’s war powers in the Middle East earlier on Wednesday, could be viewed as a preview of the power Democrats may wield over an expected supplemental spending request to fund the war in Iran, which the administration has yet to send to Congress.
The price tag of that package has fluctuated from as much as $200 billion to as low as $50 billion. Because of the influence Senate Democrats could have over funding the war effort, Republicans are considering including the request in a party-line package.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., explained her vote against “1,000 pound so-called ‘dumb bombs’ and military bulldozers” was meant to highlight a stark contrast between supporting Israel and supporting the war.
“But being pro-Israel today is not simply about supporting the political or military agenda of Prime Minister Netanyahu, just like being pro-American should not be equated with loyalty to President Trump,” she said.
