“Complicit”: Bernie Sanders Attempts to Block Arms Sales to Israel
Senator Bernie Sanders is attempting to block over $20 billion in arms sales to Israel through a series of resolutions.
The Associated Press reports that Sanders wrote a letter to his fellow senators Wednesday saying that “we must end complicity in Israel’s illegal and indiscriminate bombing campaign, which has caused mass civilian death.”
Sanders plans to introduce the resolutions next week under Senate rules that would quickly force a vote on stopping the weapons sales. The Vermont senator is using a joint resolution of disapproval of the sales, a means of congressional oversight of foreign issues.
Sanders said he has support for the proposal, which would halt the sale of missile systems, tank rounds, new fighter jets, and other weapons responsible for the destruction in Gaza. Israel’s war in the territory has killed more than 41,000 people, including nearly 16,500 children, and injured over 95,000, according to Al Jazeera, very likely an undercount.
“We cannot ignore what the Netanyahu government has done in Gaza,” Sanders wrote, adding that “much of this carnage in Gaza has been carried out with U.S.-provided military equipment.”
“We cannot be complicit in this humanitarian disaster, we must act.”
It’s not the first effort from Sanders to halt weapons sales to Israel. In January, the Vermont senator sought to require the State Department to document human rights abuses committed by Israel after October 7, 2023. The Senate rejected that effort at the time 72–11. Similarly, this effort is a long shot and is likely to encounter significant opposition, not just in the Senate but in the Republican-controlled House.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s actions are considered war crimes by many experts, and the International Criminal Court is also seeking arrest warrants against him and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. The response from the United States has been almost unequivocal support for Israel’s actions, and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris hasn’t offered any new solutions to end the war, instead refusing to engage on the issue.
