Does A Senate Vote Augur A Shift Away From Pro-Israel Politics?

By Charles O. Blaha, Responsible Statecraft

On November 20, the Senate voted on three Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRDs) of proposed arms transfers to Israel. The vote was historic, marking the first time there had ever been such a vote against major arms sales to Israel. The resolutions failed, but their success in securing 19 Senate votes reflects that times are changing when it comes to arms transfers to Israel.

The proposed JRDs disapproved of three specific shipments of offensive arms to Israel, with a total value of over $1.6 billion, which have caused massive civilian casualties in Gaza and Lebanon: tank rounds worth $774 million; mortar rounds worth $583 million; and Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), which are guidance kits for gravity-guided air-to-ground missiles, worth $262 million.

bernie sanders sits skeptically at a desk

Led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), 18 senators voted to disapprove all three of the proposed arms shipments, despite intense opposition led by the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee and, sadly, President Biden and Senate Majority Leader Schumer (D-N.Y.). A nineteenth senator, Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), opposed the shipment of the tank and mortar rounds, but did not oppose the JDAMs.

The Biden administration itself has admitted that Israel has misused U.S. arms in Gaza. In December 2023, President Biden called Israeli bombing Gaza “indiscriminate.” And then in May, the State Department’s report pursuant to National Security Memorandum 20 made an even broader assessment of Israel’s use of U.S. origin arms, finding that “it is reasonable to assess” that U.S.-supplied arms “have been used by Israeli security forces since October 7 in instances inconsistent with its IHL [international humanitarian law] obligations.”

The three resolutions in question wisely directed opposition toward specific offensive weapons that have caused many civilian casualties, in particular in the current war in Gaza.

U.S. supplied tank rounds have caused many civilian casualties, and were among the munitions used in the January 2024 killing of 6-year old Hind Rajab, her family, and the Palestinian medics who tried to rescue her. And although the IDF portrays mortars as precise defensive weapons used against enemy missile sites, in practice, mortar rounds have been a leading cause of civilian casualties.

Some JRD opponents, like Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), misleadingly portrayed the JDAMs as items that minimize civilian casualties in making strikes more precise by attaching targeting guidance technology to what are otherwise gravity-guided bombs (so-called “dumb bombs”).