In the Senate on Wednesday evening, three resolutions to block arms sales to Israel were defeated on the floor — one sponsored by Bernie Sanders, the chamber’s only avowed socialist member, and two others were sponsored by Jeff Merkley and Peter Welch. The outcome was all but preordained. What was notable instead was the number of members from Biden’s party who joined them — in direct defiance of both Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and the White House, which lobbied against the resolution and accused its supporters of aiding Hamas.
Nineteen senators in the Democratic caucus voted in support of ending or halting aid to Israel, a number that represents nearly a third of the caucus. Many were outspoken in their rebukes of both Israeli policy and US complicity in the tactics utilized by Israeli forces on the ground, as well as the conditions perpetuated by the war.
