Senate Democrats to challenge Biden’s arms sales to Israel
The Bernie Sanders-led rebuke comes a week after the Biden administration said it would not curb weapons transfers to Israel over lack of Gaza aid access, as originally threatened.
WASHINGTON — A number of Senate Democrats frustrated by President Joe Biden’s continued arms sales to Israel are preparing to challenge that policy before he leaves office.
On Wednesday, the Senate is scheduled to vote on legislation that would block the Biden administration from sending certain arms to its top partner in the Middle East. The so-called joint resolutions of disapproval (JRDs), which are sponsored by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), oppose roughly $20 billion worth of specific arms sales notified to Congress in August. They include Joint Direct Attack Munitions and 120 mm mortar rounds that conflict monitors say have been used to kill thousands of civilians in the Gaza Strip.
It is unlikely there will be enough votes to pass the legislation, which would also require approval in the Republican-dominated House, but it’s a political blow dealt to Biden from members of his own party who disapprove of his handling of the war in Gaza, where the local health ministry officials say the death toll from Israel’s offensive is nearing 44,000.
United Nations-backed experts have warned of imminent famine in northern Gaza, where the Israeli military is battling what it describes as a Hamas resurgence. Aid organizations have described the humanitarian conditions across the Palestinian territory of 2.2 million as “apocalyptic” after more than 13 months of Israeli airstrikes and ground operations.
