No one really expected the legislation to pass. And it didn’t. But in the weeks leading up
to last Wednesday’s Senate vote on several joint resolutions of disapproval designed to block the delivery of more than $20 billion in offensive weaponry to Israel, the legislation attracted a lot of attention.
U.S. law gives Congress the right to stop major foreign weapons sales by passing resolutions of disapproval. In order to become effective, the resolution needs to pass both houses of Congress and be approved by the president.
Although no resolution of disapproval has ever passed Congress and survived a presidential veto, the Senate is required to vote on any such resolution that is filed. And that’s just what Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., did, in three separate resolutions, with the support of several of Israel’s most frequent critics in the Senate.
Sanders and friends — who are particularly vocal in their outrage over what they perceive to be Israel’s excesses in its war effort in Gaza, and who were troubled by the administration’s decision not to take punitive action against Israel for failing to surge humanitarian aid into Gaza — failed earlier this year to have the Senate censure Israel for its response to the Hamas attack of Oct. 7, 2023.
This time around, the progressive coalition of senators wanted to block the delivery of six weapons transfers to Israel, which include guided missiles, tank rounds, mortars, tactical vehicles and F-15 fighter jets, all of which they fear will be used indiscriminately by Israel in Gaza and beyond.
The pro-Israel community was united in its opposition to the Sanders-led effort, except for J Street.
In the lead-up to the vote, the Biden administration stepped in to oppose the effort. Officials from the White House, State Department and Pentagon reached out to several senators to discourage them from supporting the legislation. Many saw the administration’s effort as recognition of the need to rein in party progressives who are pulling the party too far to the left and jeopardizing the Democratic party’s historical support for Israel.
Opponents of the Sanders resolutions emphasized the multifaceted threats facing Israel and underscored the critical necessity for the country to maintain a steady flow of military resources essential for its defense and security. They also noted that the military shipments targeted in the Sanders resolutions are not scheduled to be delivered for another year or two and aren’t likely to be used in Gaza.
And, in response to the distinction between offensive weapons (which proponents of the legislation wanted to stop) and defensive weapons (which proponents said they didn’t
oppose), the administration pointed out that the Israel Defense Forces won’t be able to rescue hostages or stop a rocket launcher with the Iron Dome missile defense system or other purely defensive tools.
In the end, the votes weren’t close. Although Sanders got more than the 11 votes he got on his censure effort, he didn’t get much more. A solid 80% of the U.S. Senate voted against the resolutions of disapproval and confirmed the Senate’s strong bipartisan support for the Jewish state. Those are winning numbers, no matter who is doing the counting.
