Progressive senators push to block offensive US arms sales to Israel

Four progressive US senators argued on Tuesday in support of legislation blocking the sale of some offensive arms to Israel. Israel has the right to self-defense after the October 7 massacre, but the US is complicit in the all-out war that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has waged on the Palestinian people, they said.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) introduced the joint resolutions of disapproval on the proposed sale of certain defense articles and services at the end of September. The resolutions called for the blocking of 32,739 120-mm. tank cartridges, consisting of 120-mm. M1147 High Explosive Multi-Purpose with Tracer (HEMP–T) cartridges and/or 120-mm. M830A1 High Explosive Multi-Purpose Anti-Tank with Tracer (MPAT) cartridges.

Also included were various 120-mm. tank munitions, 120-mm. 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 was expected to 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 Tuesday at a news conference.

“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 said.

Under these circumstances, it is illegal for the US government to provide Israel with more offensive weaponry, Sanders said, adding that he did not think anyone in the Senate disagreed that Israel clearly had a right to respond to the horrific Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7.

Sanders believes Israel is violating human rights

Sanders cited a recent UN report that said the situation unfolding in northern Gaza was “apocalyptic,” and the entire population could die from famine and disease.

He criticized Israel’s recent decision to ban UNRWA, which he said is 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.

Netanyahu had opposed the Biden administration in various ways, he said, such as not blocking aid to expanding West Bank settlements and refusing to engage in discussions for postwar governance of Gaza.

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) said he would continue to support defensive weapons for Israel, such as the Iron Dome and David’s Sling, but Netanyahu’s government had undertaken policies out of sync with American values.

Merkley said Biden had 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,” he said.

“And we are, as a nation, providing the weapons that are being used in Gaza,” Merkley said. “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.”

He said it was 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 is 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,” Merkley said.

Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vermont) 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 believed there is 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-Maryland) said the resolutions stood 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 urged his colleagues to vote in support of the resolutions.

The US needs assurances that its interests, values, and priorities will be respected by foreign governments that receive American support, he wrote in a letter. That principle should apply universally, including to the Netanyahu government in Israel, he added.

“Partnership should be a two-way street,” Van Hollen wrote. “Not a one-way blank check.”