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The US Senate has voted down efforts to withhold weapons from Israel during the war in Gaza Israel-Palestine Conflicts News

Washington, DC – The US Senate has rejected a bill aimed at blocking US arms sales to Israel during the civil war in Gaza, a result that rights advocates say does not offset increasing pressure on aid from Washington’s grand coalition.

A resolution to stop the sale of tank rounds failed to advance by a vote of 79 to 18 on Wednesday with prominent progressives and Democratic hawks supporting the effort.

Two other resolutions to stop the sale of other weapons are still to be voted on, but the results are expected to be the same.

The proposal was part of a series of measures known as Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRDs) that Senator Bernie Sanders introduced in September to reject the sale of offensive weapons to Israel as part of a $20bn deal approved by the administration of President Joe Biden.

It was the first time that an arms sale to Israel was voted on.

Although support for the crackdown may seem small, it represents a crack in the bipartisan consensus on unconditional US aid to Israel.

Beth Miller, political director of the US-based independent group Jewish Voice for Peace, said the vote was a “tipping point” in the decades-long effort to limit Washington’s military aid to Israel.

“This is too late; “This genocide has been going on for 13 months, but that doesn’t change the fact that this is a very important step,” Miller told Al Jazeera.

General support

In addition to Sanders, Senators Peter Welch, Jeff Merkley, Chris Van Hollen, Tim Kaine and Brian Schatz supported the resolution to ban weapons against Israel.

While Sanders is a progressive independent negotiating with Democrats, some of the lawmakers who have supported the effort come from the mainstream wing of the party.

Kaine was the Democratic Party’s running mate in the 2016 election that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lost to Republican President Donald Trump.

In a statement announcing his vote early Wednesday, Kaine called for work toward “de-escalation and sustainable peace” in the region.

“Continued offensive arms transfers will exacerbate the existing crisis and add fuel to the fire of regional instability,” the senator said.

“Therefore, while I voted for a $14 billion defense aid package for Israel in April and continue to support the transfer of self-defense weapons, I will vote against the transfer of weapons, anti-tank rounds and Joint Direct Attack Munitions. [JDAMs] to Israel.”

Continued US support for Israel has been essential in financing the war in Gaza and Lebanon.

A recent study by Brown University found that the Biden administration spent $17.9bn on security aid to Israel last year, despite warnings from United Nations experts that the US alliance is killing people in Gaza.

That aid has continued despite the escalation of Israeli violence, including widespread destruction in Lebanon, the sexual abuse of Palestinian prisoners and the intense siege of Gaza that has been ravaging the area.

White House intervention

While Republicans are united in opposing the measures, HuffPost reported that the Biden administration has urged Democratic allies to vote against them.

Shelley Greenspan, the White House Liaison on the American Jewish community, appeared to confirm that report.

Greenspan, a former employee of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), shared – with an approving emoji – a social media post saying that Biden remains a staunch supporter of Israel, including opposing Sanders’ decisions.

The White House did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) criticized the White House’s lobbying efforts.

“We strongly condemn the dishonest campaign by the White House to pressure members of the Senate Democrats to avoid even a symbolic vote against the delivery of more weapons funded by the American taxpayers to the unruly Netanyahu government,” the group said in a statement.

“The Biden administration’s foreign policy in the Middle East has been a catastrophic failure.”

CAIR is one of the civil rights and civil rights groups that supported the decision.

In a speech on the Senate floor before the vote, Sanders expressed that support ahead of the vote.

He said the decisions were “simple, straightforward and not difficult”. He pointed out that these measures aim to implement US laws that prohibit military aid to countries that block humanitarian aid and commit atrocities.

“A lot of people are coming down to talk about human rights and what’s going on around the world, but what I want to say to all those people: No one is going to take anything you say seriously,” Sanders said. .

“You cannot criticize human rights [violations] around the world and ignore what the United States government is now sponsoring in Israel. People will laugh in your face. They will say to you, ‘You are worried about China; worried about Russia; worried about Iran. So why are you funding the starvation of children in Gaza right now?”

‘Moral responsibility’

Senator Jacky Rosen, a staunch pro-Israel Democrat, spoke out against the resolutions, saying aid restrictions to Israel would empower Iran and its allies in the region.

“Israel has an absolute right to defend itself, and the aid that America is providing is critical,” Rosen said.

If the resolution had been passed, it would have had to be approved by the House of Representatives before reaching the president’s desk, and Biden may have blocked them.

A presidential veto can be overridden by a two-thirds majority in the House and Senate.

Several Democrats in the House of Representatives have expressed support for the JRDs.

Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and eight other lawmakers in a joint statement: “President-elect Trump’s return to the White House will reassure Netanyahu and his distant ministers. The vote of joint resolutions of non-recognition is a vote to politically block the Netanyahu government from any future efforts to legally annex the West Bank and settle parts of Gaza. “

Miller, of Jewish Voice for Peace, said lawmakers have a moral, legal and political obligation to vote in favor of the resolution.

“There is a moral responsibility for them to stop arming for massacre. There is a legal obligation for them to follow US law and stop sending weapons to a government that uses our equipment in violation of our law. And there is a political responsibility for them to do what they say they should do,” he said.




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