Washington, MINA – The US Senate rejected two resolutions Wednesday introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders to block nearly $500 million in arms sales to Israel, Anadolu Agency reports.
By a vote of 40-59, the Senate did not agree to the motion to discharge S.J. Res. 32 to prohibit the $295 million sale of armored bulldozers.
Democratic senators Richard Blumenthal, Chris Coons, Catherine Cortez Masto, John Fetterman, Kirsten Gillibrand, Jacky Rosen and Chuck Schumer voted no. Sen. Cynthia Lummis did not vote.
A second resolution, S.J. Res. 138 to block the $151.8 million sale of 1,000-pound bombs was also rejected by a vote of 36-63.
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Blumenthal, Coons, Cortez Masto, Fetterman, Gillibrand, Gary Peters, Jack Reed, Rosen, Schumer, Mark Warner and Sheldon Whitehouse voted against the resolution. Sen. Thom Tillis did not vote.
In his address on the Senate floor before the vote, Sanders said the American people do not want the US to continue spending billions of dollars in support of “illegal, horrific and expansionist war policies” of Israel.
Following the voting, Sanders said that efforts to block US military aid to Israel are gaining momentum in the Senate, pointing to a sharp increase in Democratic support for his resolutions.
“We are making progress,” he said on the US social media company X’s platform, noting that more than 80% of the Democratic caucus voted to block aid to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “his horrific, illegal wars.”
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“When we started this effort, there were just 11 votes. Now, there are 40.”
“That shift reflects where the American people are. Americans, whether they are Democrats, Republicans or Independents, want to see our tax money invested in improving lives here at home, not used to kill innocent women and children in the Middle East and put American troops in harm’s way as part of Netanyahu’s illegal wars of expansion,” he added.
Sanders also criticized Republicans for continuing to support aid packages aligned with the policies of Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump, despite what he described as widespread public opposition.[]
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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