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US Senate votes down effort to withhold weapons to Israel amid Gaza war

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United States Senate
The United States Senate has rejected a bill that aimed to block a US weapons sale to Israel amid the country’s war on Gaza, an outcome that rights advocates say does not take away from a growing push to condition aid to Washington’s top ally.

A resolution to halt the sale of tank rounds failed to advance in a 79 to 18 vote on Wednesday, with prominent progressives and mainstream Democratic senators backing the effort.

Two more resolutions to halt the sale of other weapons also failed after winning fewer than 20 votes.

Senator Bernie Sanders introduced the so-called Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRDs) in September to oppose a $20bn weapons deal approved by the administration of President Joe Biden.

It was the first time ever that a weapons sale to Israel was subjected to such a vote.

While support for the push may appear minimal, it represents a crack in the bipartisan consensus over unconditional US aid to Israel.

Beth Miller, political director at the US-based advocacy group Jewish Voice for Peace, said the vote is an “inflexion point” in the decades-long effort to restrict Washington’s military assistance to Israel.

“This is too little too late; this genocide has been going on for 13 months, but that does not change the fact that this is a critically important step,” Miller told reporters.

In addition to Sanders, Senators Peter Welch, Jeff Merkley, Chris Van Hollen, Tim Kaine and Brian Schatz backed the resolution to block offensive munitions to Israel.

While Sanders is a progressive independent who caucuses with Democrats, some of the lawmakers who backed the effort come from the mainstream wing of the party.

Kaine was the Democratic Party’s vice presidential nominee in the 2016 elections that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lost to incoming Republican President Donald Trump.

In a statement announcing his vote earlier on Wednesday, Kaine called for work towards “de-escalation and a sustainable peace” in the region.

“Continued offensive weapons transfers will worsen the current crisis and add more fuel to the fire of regional instability,” the senator said.

“Therefore, while I voted for the $14 billion defense aid package for Israel in April and continue to support the transfer of defensive weapons, I will vote to oppose the transfers of mortars, tank rounds, and Joint Direct Attack Munitions [JDAMs] to Israel.”

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