The
Senate voted 72 to 11 to table the matter, but the number of Democrats who
supported the measure reflects rising dissatisfaction among progressives over
the civilian casualties in Gaza, which are now said to exceed 24,000. Liberals
are also frustrated over the lack of a clear timeline for ending the war.
Nine Democrats voted with Sanders, as did Rand Paul a frequent critic of US foreign aid.
Sanders, the Senate’s leading critic of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’ handling of the siege and invasion of Gaza, says it’s immoral.
On Tuesday he pounded his colleagues over the mounting death toll and the extensive use of American-supplied bombs and artillery shells in what had been heavily populated civilian areas.
“Whether
we like it or not, the United States is complicit in the nightmare that
millions of Palestinians are now experiencing,” he declared on the Senate
floor, warning that hundreds of thousands of children in Gaza are starving
right before our eyes.
He cited media reports that Israel dropped more than 22,000 American-supplied bombs on Gaza in a six-week span, including 2,000-pound bombs that can destroy entire neighborhoods.
Elizabeth Warren who voted to advance the resolution, said she wanted to send a message.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu has to understand that he does not get a blank check from the United States Congress,” she said.
“We have a responsibility to stand up now and say that given how Netanyahu and his right-wing war Cabinet have prosecuted this war, we have serious questions that we are obligated to ask before we go further in our support.”
She said while the Biden administration is pushing the Netanyahu regime to reduce civilian deaths and ratchet down the intensity of the fighting, “Congress [has] a role here to play as well to make sure that Mr. Netanyahu understands we’re not writing blank checks.”
The other Democrats who voted for the resolution were Laphonza Butler, Martin Heinrich, Mazie Hirono, Ben Ray Luján, Ed Markey, Jeff Merkley, Chris Van Hollen and Peter Welch.
A group of progressive Democrats is also looking at attaching conditions to US military aid to Israel.
