The US Senate continues to align itself with Israel. This morning, it blocked two resolutions that would have prevented the sale of bombs and excavators to Tel Aviv, worth approximately 450 million dollars. The Republicans, the co-religionists of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, have reaffirmed their support for the Israeli State, as expected, but in the background there has been an earthquake never seen before.
And the support for the resolutions by a large majority of the 47 Democratic senators has revealed the growing frustration within that party over the impact on the civilian population of the Israeli attacks against Gaza, Lebanon and Iran. Something moves. No liberal senator considering a run for President voted tonight in favor of further arming Benjamin Netanyahu’s side. Symptomatic.
A long tradition of solid bipartisan support for Israel in the US Congress makes the approval of resolutions to stop arms sales always unlikely, that is true, but the defenders of this new position hope that raising the issue, insistently and with debate and controversy, will encourage the Israeli Government and the US administrations to redouble their efforts to protect the civilian population. Because it is one thing to refer to legitimate defense and another to kill 77,000 people (at least) in Gaza.
Those who support continuing sales argue that Israel is an important ally to which the US should sell military equipment, also for its own security. However, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent and member of the Democratic caucus, forced a vote on the resolutions, stating that the contracts violate the foreign assistance criteria established in the Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Export Control Act.
The first resolution, if successful, would have prohibited the sale, worth $295 million, of Caterpillar D9R and D9T excavators, spare parts and other support services. The vote resulted in 59 votes against and 40 in favor of the measure.
Seven Democrats voted along with all Republicans against the resolution disapproving the sale of the excavators. Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming did not vote.
The second resolution would have prohibited the sale, worth $151.8 million, of 12,000 454-kilogram BLU-110A/B conventional bombs and related logistical and technical support services.
Eleven Democrats joined all Republicans in blocking the measure by a vote of 63 to 36. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina did not vote.
In short, we are facing an “unprecedented fall in the status of Israel in the United States,” as the journalist from Axios Barak Ravid, responsible for the main exclusives on the Gaza and Iran negotiations in the recent conflicts.
Israel uses bombs in attacks against Gaza and Lebanon, and bulldozers to demolish homes in Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank, Sanders denounced. “And the United States must use the influence it has, of tens of billions in weapons and military aid, to demand that Israel put an end to these atrocities,” he said tonight, urging support for the resolutions.
Israel claims it does not intentionally target civilians and that its strikes are aimed at neutralizing militants and military infrastructure.
Two days ago, a new survey by the Pew Research Center shows an acceleration of the deterioration regarding the support of American citizens for Israel. Six in ten Americans have an unfavorable opinion of their government, either “somewhat” or “very” unfavorable. That represents an increase of seven percentage points from the previous year and almost 20 points from 2022.
The most striking number is that of those who chose the most extreme option: the proportion of adults with a “very unfavorable” view of Israel reached 28%, almost triple the 10% registered in 2022. In four years, what was a minority position within criticism became the most frequent type of rejection among those who have a bad opinion of the country.
Redoubled efforts
Wednesday’s vote showed an increase in support for efforts to limit arms sales to Israel. In July, two resolutions that would have blocked arms sales in response to civilian casualties in Gaza were blocked in the Senate, Reuters recalls.
Also introduced by Sanders, they were rejected by 73 votes to 24 and 70 to 27 in the 100-member chamber.
At the beginning of the US-Israel war against Iran, the Trump administration sidestepped the usual congressional review of arms sales, claiming there was an emergency that made it necessary to transfer the weapons immediately.
Previously, the Senate rejected with a vote of 47 votes in favor and 52 against a resolution that sought to prevent President Trump from ordering new attacks against the Islamic republic without prior authorization from Congress. This Wednesday, the president assured that the war is “very close to ending” in an interview with Fox Business, while the naval blockade imposed on Iran in the Strait of Hormuz remains in force and sends thousands more soldiers to the Middle East.
