Senators Have a Chance to Halt Weapons Sales to Israel

As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens and with just weeks remaining before President-elect Donald Trump takes power, progressive senators are urging Democrats to finally take action. During the lame-duck period, they are pushing to halt $20 billion in weapons sales to Israel through a series of joint resolutions introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

“The truth is that from a legal perspective, these resolutions are not complicated,” Sanders said during a press conference Tuesday, alongside Sens. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.; Peter Welch, D-Vt.; and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. “They are cut and dry. The United States government is currently in violation of the law, and every member of the Senate who believes in the rule of law should vote for these resolutions.”

The joint resolutions of disapproval would block sales of 120mm tank rounds and JDAM missile guidance kits, as well as other offensive weapon sales to Israel, which the Biden administration approved in August. They will be brought to a floor vote on Wednesday in the Senate. Despite Sanders’s assertions about U.S. law, the resolutions seem unlikely to pass even with a Democratic majority intact, as the lame-duck period so far has been marked by further stagnation and backtracking on Gaza by Democratic leadership.

On Monday, a group of White House staffers blasted the Biden administration in a dissent letter over its decision not to enforce a deadline established by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin requiring the Israeli government to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. In October, Blinken and Austin sent a letter to their Israeli counterparts giving them 30 days to allow at least 350 aid trucks each day into Gaza, a region where nearly 2 million people are experiencing crisis levels of hunger.

Despite aid groups reporting that Israel has continued to block humanitarian aid into Gaza, the White House overlooked the blown deadline last week, saying that it will continue to provide weapons to Israel. The decision stands in direct violation of existing U.S. law preventing the government from sending weapons to countries that block U.S.-backed humanitarian assistance.

At the press conference, the assembled senators blasted the Biden administration for failing to adhere to its own line in the sand. “What’s the point of sending a letter if you don’t mean what you say,” Van Hollen said in response to a question from The Intercept.

With the Biden administration unwilling to act and legislation targeting pro-Palestinian nonprofits still advancing, pro-Palestinian advocates and their allies in Congress argue that passing the joint resolutions is likely the last real opportunity for Democrats to address the crisis in Gaza before Republicans take control in January.

“It’s been a really disillusioning few weeks,” said Samer Araabi, a member of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, a Bay Area advocacy organization. “The Biden ultimatum around weapons to Israel has come and gone with absolutely no consequences, despite the fact that Israel changed nothing in terms of humanitarian aid, and the bill to strip nonprofits of their status, which is clearly aimed at suppressing the pro-Palestine free speech in this country, H.R. 9495, appears on track to passing with Democratic support. And now, I feel like our last and best option here is the JRD [joint resolution of disapproval].

Araabi is far from the only activist calling on senators to pass the joint resolutions. More than 100 pro-Palestinian activists occupied the Senate Hart Building on Tuesday demanding that senators vote in favor of Sanders’s resolutions. “Not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Israel’s crimes,” chanted the crowd. Capitol Police later arrested nearly 50 of the protesters.

Trump’s recent nominations of far-right anti-Muslim figures like Fox News host Pete Hegseth, who has referred to Muslims immigrating to the United States as a “cultural invasion,” further mark the urgency of this moment for activists like Araabi. “We can make some educated guesses, I think, based on his early appointments. And I think those point to a really, really bad situation,” he said.

Despite Democrats’ unwillingness to vote for conditioning military aid to Israel in the past, Araabi hopes that at least some of the lame-duck senators who won’t be returning in January will take this opportunity to cement an anti-genocide record.

“We have a number of senators now who are lame ducks, including in California, where Laphonza Butler is phasing out for Adam Schiff,” said Araabi. “This is literally, as an individual, their last chance to take a stand and do the right thing, and I really hope that at least some of them take up that opportunity.”