The Senate overwhelmingly rejected a resolution to ban certain arm sales to Israel late Wednesday evening, exposing stark divisions among Democrats over support for Israel and the country’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
Senators voted 27 to 70 in a failed vote to halt the U.S. government from transferring tens of thousands of assault rifles to Israel with every Senate Republican voting “no” on the measure. A record number of Senate Democrats — more than half of the caucus — voted in favor of the resolution from Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to block at least $675 million in weapons sales to Israel, citing concerns that the country is allegedly not doing enough to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The vote was the third occasion that Sanders, a longtime critic of the Israeli government, has forced the upper chamber to vote on blocking arms transfers to Israel. Sanders persuaded more than ten Democrats who objected to a similar resolution in April to back the measure to block the sale of rifles to Israel — including Democratic Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff.
