A proposed arms embargo proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) against Israel failed in the Senate on Thursday, with just 15 votes — all from Democrats — in favor, down from 19 votes for a similar proposal in November.
Sanders has been one of the most vocal opponents of the Israeli government in Congress. Though he acknowledged the horror of the Hamas terror attack on October 7, 2023, and said Israel should be able to defend itself, he has also pushed for an arms embargo that would prevent Israel from doing so.
In November, as Breitbart News reported, the Senate voted down three proposals by Sanders to block arms sales to Israel, with as many as 19 anti-Israel votes.
On Thursday, the Senate — now controlled by Republicans — defeated Sanders’s proposals even more soundly.
The Times of Israel reported:
President Donald Trump has lifted a partial arms embargo by President Joe Biden, who denied Israel shipments of heavy precision bombs in retaliation for Israel entering Rafah last year to fight Hamas.Among the four senators who voted in favor of Sanders’s resolutions in November and who who flipped their votes on Thursday to “No” was Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia …
The others were fellow Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock, New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen — who announced earlier this month she will not seek reelection next year — and Maine Senator Angus King, an Independent who caucuses with Democrats.
One of the more notable “Yes” votes was freshman New Jersey Senator Andy Kim, who has been cast as a more moderate Democrat. He visited Israel earlier this year and has advocated for the release of the hostages.
The other fourteen Democrats who voted in favor of blocking weapons to Israel were Mazie Hirono, Ben Ray Luján, Bernie Sanders, Chris Van Hollen, Jeff Merkley, Ed Markey, Tim Kaine, Elizabeth Warren, Martin Heinrich, Brian Schatz, Tina Smith, Dick Durbin, Peter Welch and Chris Murphy.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
