Four progressive senators argued in support of legislation blocking the sale of some offensive arms to Israel on Tuesday, saying Israel had the right to self-defense after October 7, but the US is complicit in the all-out war that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has waged on the Palestinian people.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced the joint resolutions of disapproval on the proposed sale of certain defense articles and services at the end of September, calling for the blocking of 32,739 120mm tank cartridges consisting of 120mm M1147 High Explosive Multi-Purpose with Tracer (HEMP–T) cartridges and/or 120mm M830A1 High Explosive Multi-Purpose Anti-Tank with Tracer (MPAT) cartridges.
Also included were various 120mm tank munitions, 120mm munition canisters, transportation costs, publications and technical documentation, US Government and contractor engineering, and technical and logistics support services, according to the resolutions.
The Senate will vote on the joint resolutions on Wednesday.
“The United States cannot provide weaponry to countries that violate internationally recognized human rights or block humanitarian aid,” Sanders said during a joint news conference Tuesday afternoon.
“According to the United Nations, much of the international community, and every humanitarian organization on the ground in Gaza, Israel is clearly in violation of these laws,” he added.
Sanders believes Israel is violating human rights
Sanders said under these circumstances, it is illegal for the US government to provide Israel with more offensive weaponry.
He also said he doesn’t think anyone in the Senate disagrees with the fact that Israel clearly had a right to respond to the horrific Hamas terror attacks of October 7.
Sanders then cited a recent UN report which called the situation unfolding in northern Gaza “apocalyptic” and described the entire population there at imminent risk of dying from famine and disease.
Sanders criticized Israel’s recent decision to ban UNRWA, calling the controversial organization the “backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza.”
“Clearly, what is happening in Gaza today is unspeakable, but what makes it even more painful is that much of what is happening there has been done with US weapons and with American taxpayer support in the last year alone,” Sanders said.
The Vermont senator then listed the ways in which Netanyahu has gone against the Biden administration, from blocking aid to expanding West Bank settlements and refusing to engage in discussions for post-war governance of Gaza.
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) echoed Sanders, saying he’ll continue to support defensive weapons for Israel, such as the Iron Dome and David’s Sling, but that Netanyahu’s government has undertaken policies out of sync with American values.
Merkley quoted Biden, who earlier this year referred to Israel’s campaign in Gaza as “indiscriminate bombing.”
“That bombing has produced massive deaths, massive injuries, massive destruction, and the largest part of the calamity has been on the innocents, not those who conducted the October 7 attack,” Merkley said.
“And we are, as a nation, providing the weapons that are being used in Gaza. Therefore, we are, as citizens, complicit in this strategy that is out of sync with our values, out of sync with our law, and out of sync with international law.”
Merkley said it’s important that when a close friend engages in “egregious, devastating practices that harm civilians in such a massive way,” Americans stand up and say it’s wrong legally and morally to conduct a campaign in this fashion.
“That’s why I’ll be supporting these three resolutions opposing [the] transfer of offensive weapons to Israel,” he concluded.
Vermont’s other senator, Democrat Peter Welch, said all of the backers of the resolutions support Israel as a Jewish and Democratic state, believe in a two-state solution, and believe the relationship between the US and Israel is special.
“Should we be blind to the suffering of those Palestinian women and children when top military officials in Israel themselves have said that there’s no further military purpose for continued bombing in military activity in Gaza?” he asked.
Welch said he believes there’s no inconsistency with the US asserting conditions on aid that are consistent with a commitment to its policies of a two-state solution, the enforcement of the Leahy Law, and the enforcement of international law.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said the resolutions stand for the “simple proposition that US taxpayer assistance should not come in the form of a blank check, even to our closest partners.”
On Monday, Van Hollen penned a letter urging his colleagues to vote in support of the resolutions.
Van Hollen said the US needs assurances that its interests, values, and priorities will be respected by foreign governments that receive American support. That principle should apply universally, including to the Netanyahu government in Israel, he added.
“Partnership should be a two-way street,” Van Hollen concluded.
“Not a one-way blank check.”