Two resolutions that would have halted arms sales to Israel failed to pass the U.S. Senate on Wednesday.
Introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT), the resolutions “would have blocked the sale of $675 million in bombs and shipments of 20,000 assault rifles,” Reuters reported .
Though the resolutions failed to pass, they gained greater support among Democrats than did similar resolutions that Sanders introduced in April.
While the April resolutions failed 82 to 15 and 83 to 15, Wednesday’s resolutions failed 73 to 24 and 70 to 27.
As there are 45 Democratic senators, this means that over half of Senate Democrats supported the resolutions.
In an official statement , Sanders praised these Democrats for voting “to stop sending arms shipments to a Netanyahu government which has waged a horrific, immoral, and illegal war against the Palestinian people.”
“The tide is turning,” he said. “The American people do not want to spend billions to starve children in Gaza.”
Despite growing skepticism towards Israel among some conservatives, no Republican senator supported the resolution.
Idaho Senator Jim Risch said that the “misguided resolutions” would mean “abandon[ing] America’s closest ally in the Middle East.”
Sanders, however, indicated that he expected Republican views to shift.
“The Democrats are moving forward on this issue, and I look forward to Republican support in the near future,” Sanders said.
