Senate rejects effort to halt arms sales to Israel, but most Democrats vote to block them

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WASHINGTON (AP) — More than three dozen Democrats supported an effort by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday to block arms sales to Israel, signaling a growing discontent in the party with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the wars in Gaza and Iran.

The two resolutions to block U.S. sales of bulldozers and bombs to Israel were opposed by all Republicans and rejected 40-59 and 36-63. But Sanders has repeatedly forced votes on the issue to put pressure on his colleagues — both Democrats and Republicans — to oppose Netanyahu’s regime.

Similar resolutions forced by Sanders in 2024 and 2025 were also rejected, but the number of Democrats voting with the Vermont Independent has more than doubled in less than two years amid Israeli campaigns in Gaza, Iran and Lebanon and a stepped-up campaign by party activists who have increasingly seen support for Israel as a litmus test for support.

“It’s clear that Democrats are beginning to listen to the average American who is sick and tired of spending billions of dollars to support Netanyahu’s horrific wars when people in this country can’t afford housing or health care,” Sanders said after the vote.

Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., voted in support of the two resolutions after opposing some of Sanders’ previous efforts. In a speech just before the vote, Kelly said that “the reckless decisions being made by Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump” led him to his decision, which he said he did not take lightly.

“Under Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government, we’ve seen an expanded war in Lebanon that is putting innocent Lebanese civilians at risk, and ongoing violence against Palestinians and their homes being demolished in the West Bank,” Kelly said. “All of this has undermined the path forward for peace.”

Among the Democrats voting against the resolutions were Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. Nearly 100 protesters were arrested during a demonstration on Monday calling on the two New York senators to vote in favor of Sanders' two measures.

Led by the antiwar group Jewish Voice for Peace, the crowd of hundreds initially attempted to stage a sit-in inside the senators' offices as they said they were abetting Israel’s intensifying attacks in Lebanon and the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. But they were blocked and many of the protesters were arrested.

“The majority of Americans and New Yorkers want a resolution to what the Israeli government is doing,” said the group’s communications director, Sonya Meyerson-Knox.

Democrats supported a resolution earlier on Wednesday to halt Trump's war in Iran, though that was also rejected, 47-52. Democratic Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat who voted against Sanders' Israel resolutions, said he voted to end the Iran war but did not want to abandon Israel.

“My votes should be taken neither as an endorsement of the actions of the Netanyahu government nor as an abandonment of the state of Israel, the Jewish people, or the US-Israel relationship,” Coons said in a statement after the vote.

Republicans said the vote could hurt U.S. efforts in the Iran war.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, said the resolutions could embolden Iran and “send the message that the U.S. is prepared to leave our ally Israel vulnerable.”

“They will not help the United States of America,” Risch said ahead of the vote.