U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., introduced legislation Thursday to block a $735 million weapons sale to Israel, citing its military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
The resolution is the latest Sanders effort to address the conflict, which has wrought destruction in Gaza, home to about 2 million Palestinians. It would require a simple majority to pass the Senate, but it would take a two-thirds majority in both chambers of Congress to overcome a possible veto by President Joe Biden.
Congress learned of the weapons sale May 5, about a week before an escalation in the latest conflict between Israel and Hamas, the militant group that governs Gaza.
“At a moment when U.S.-made bombs are devastating Gaza and killing women and children, we cannot simply let another huge arms sale go through without even a congressional debate,” Sanders said in a written statement.
A similar resolution was introduced Wednesday in the House by Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.; Mark Pocan, D-Wis.; and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.
The fighting between Israel and Hamas this month has been the bloodiest since 2014. Israeli air strikes and rocket attacks have killed an estimated 230 Palestinians — including 65 children — and displaced tens of thousands more. Rockets fired by Hamas have killed at least 12 Israelis.
“I believe that the United States must help lead the way to a peaceful and prosperous future for both Israelis and Palestinians,” Sanders said. “We need to take a hard look at whether the sale of these weapons is actually helping do that, or whether it is simply fueling conflict.”
Sanders became one of the first members of Congress to call for a cease-fire in a statement issued May 11. He condemned “government-allied right-wing extremists in Jerusalem” and called for an end to “provocative and illegal settlement activity.”
Sanders later targeted what he called the authoritarian regime of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an essay published last Friday in The New York Times.
“In this moment of crisis, the United States should be urging an immediate cease-fire,” Sanders wrote. Sanders argued that the United States, under the Biden administration, “must uphold international standards of human rights consistently, even when it’s politically difficult.”
Sanders also spoke Wednesday on the Senate floor, calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza. Through a spokesperson, he declined an interview request from VTDigger.
It was not immediately clear Thursday whether Vermont’s other U.S. senator, Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., supported Sanders’ attempt to block the arms sale. A spokesperson for Leahy did not respond to a request for comment.
The third member of the state’s congressional delegation, Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., did not directly weigh in on Sanders’ resolution, but he said such arms deals should be suspended until a lasting cease-fire agreement was in place.
“We need an immediate and sustained ceasefire from both sides to prevent further violence,” Welch said in a written statement. “This conflict has already killed too many and caused incalculable human suffering. Until there is an enforceable and lasting ceasefire we should suspend consideration of the recent arms sale to Israel.”
Welch said that the underlying issues driving the conflict also had to be addressed, “but a ceasefire comes first.”
Leahy was among the senators who in 2019 introduced resolutions to block 22 separate arms deals involving more than $8 billion in weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Leahy later called then-President Donald Trump’s stance on Saudi Arabia an “utter failure to grasp” American values.
Welch introduced legislation in 2018 to halt military aid and block future weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, shortly after the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
“For too long the United States has blindly supported a Saudi government engaged in a horrific campaign against the people of Yemen,” Welch said at the time. “It is long past time to stop military assistance and the sale of arms to this brutal dictatorship.”
Trump vetoed three of the resolutions to block arms deals later in 2019. Congress has never managed to block an arms sale through a joint resolution, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Leahy and Welch have joined with other lawmakers in recent days in calling for an immediate cease-fire between the Israeli government and Hamas.
Welch was one of 137 House Democrats who signed a letter addressed to Biden on Wednesday, which called on the president to push for a cease-fire between the two groups.
Biden did eventually demand a de-escalation Wednesday, in a marked change in tone from his earlier statements. Opposition to the conflict has intensified among many lawmakers, including those who have supported Israel in the past.
The Israeli government and Hamas are reportedly close to a cease-fire agreement following a vote Thursday night by Israel’s Security Cabinet. The cease-fire could go into effect as early as Friday, but similar agreements have previously fallen through.
Correction: An earlier version of this story omitted a portion of Rep. Welch’s statement addressing the proposed suspension of the arms deal.
