by Chris Menahan, Information Liberation:
The Senate on Thursday voted 82-15 and 83-15 against two resolutions seeking to block the latest round of arms sales to Israel — even though polls show the majority of Americans want to end all military aid to the Jewish state.
From TruthOut, “Only 15 Senators Back Sanders Bid to Block Arms to Israel as Gaza Deaths Top 50k”:
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On Thursday, the Senate rejected Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vermont) resolutions to block the sale of $8.8 billion in weapons to Israel by an even wider margin than in similar votes last year — despite Israel having since violated the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
The Senate’s opposition to the resolutions comes as Israel has maintained a total humanitarian aid blockade on Gaza for over a month.
Sanders forced votes on two resolutions on Thursday, the first to block the sale of 35,000 2,000-pound bombs to Israel, worth $2 billion, and the second on the sale of tens of thousands of other bombs and JDAMs, worth $6.75 billion.
Both resolutions failed with overwhelming bipartisan opposition, by a vote of 15 in favor and 82 against for the first vote and 83 against for the second. Similar votes on Joint Resolutions of Disapproval brought by Sanders in November, to block $1 billion of tank rounds, mortar rounds, and JDAMs, failed but with smaller margins; several Democrats flipped their votes, despite the sales being pushed by the Trump administration this time around.
Those who backed Sanders’s resolutions were: Senators Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Virginia), Andy Kim (D-New Jersey), Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico), Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts), Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Tina Smith (D-Minnesota), Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland), Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and Peter Welch (D-Vermont).
All Republicans voted against the resolutions. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) voted “present” on both resolutions.
Senators Angus King (I-Maine), Jeanne Shaheen (D-New Hampshire), Raphael Warnock (D-Georgia) and Jon Ossoff (D-Georgia) voted “no” on Thursday despite voting for all or some of Sanders’s Joint Resolutions of Disapproval in November.
Had this vote actually represented the will of the American people, over half of the Senate would have voted to not only block arms sales but also end all military aid to the Jewish state.
A Gallup poll just last month found that Americans’ support for Israel has plummeted to just 46%, which marks the lowest rating for Israel ever in 25 years of tracking.
Nonetheless, support from “our” representatives for arming Israel’s genocide went up!
Social media has been flooded over the past week with videos of Palestinian children massacred and babies beheaded by Israeli air strikes and yet the needle moved in the Jewish state’s favor.
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