Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Sanders initiates legislation to block arms sales to Israel

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Americans need to take a “hard look” at whether such weapons sales fuel the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Bernie Sanders
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) at the 2019 California Democratic Party State Convention at the George R. Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco. Credit: Gage Skidmore/Flickr.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) proposed legislation on Thursday to block the sale of $735 million in arms to Israel, one day after a similar resolution was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“At a moment when U.S.-made bombs are devastating Gaza, and killing women and children, we cannot simply let another huge arms sale go through without even a congressional debate,” said Sanders, according to Reuters.

The former Democratic presidential candidate said Americans need to take a “hard look” at whether such weapons sales fuel the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) were among those who introduced the resolution on Wednesday to block the aid.

“At a time when so many, including [U.S.] President [Joe] Biden, support a ceasefire, we should not be sending ‘direct attack’ weaponry to [Israeli] Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu to prolong this violence,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement announcing the resolution.

“Our experience has taught us that innovation without deep human-centered caution can be as dangerous as the trauma itself,” said Maya Shany, Israeli youth delegate.
“We are burning inside with hate, with longing, with infinite sadness,” an Israeli reservist, who was injured in Gaza and saw three of his unit members killed, told attendees.
The legislation, modeled on a Kentucky law, “reaffirms New York’s commitment to accommodating religious practices and cultural traditions,” state senator Sam Sutton’s office told JNS.
The student allegedly made statements in a group chat, later claiming that it was a joke.
Volunteers from Chaverim of Rockland joined Hatzolah of Los Angeles’s effort as police continue to search for Jeanne Litvin, who has been missing for a week.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks at the state memorial ceremony for the fallen of Israel’s wars on Mount Herzl.