Bernie Sanders tried for the fourth time to block weapons shipments to Israel in the Senate on Wednesday, and while he lost the vote, the tallies exposed a significant shift in how Democrats view military aid to the country.
Forty senators backed Sanders's resolution to halt a $295 million sale of bulldozers to Israel's military. Thirty-six voted to block a separate $151.8 million shipment of 12,000 1,000-pound bombs. Both measures failed, defeated by Senate Republicans and a substantial chunk of the Democratic caucus. But the numbers told a different story than previous attempts.
In April, only 15 of the Senate's 47 Democrats supported similar resolutions. By July, that number jumped to 27. Wednesday's votes showed continued momentum, with Democratic senators including California's Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla reversing their previous opposition to such measures.
"Being a stalwart friend of Israel does not mean agreeing with all decisions of the Israeli Government," Schiff and Padilla said in a joint statement after voting yes. Both had voted against comparable measures before.
Sanders framed the effort as a test of whether Senate Democrats would listen to voters or special interests. He pointed to a Pew Research survey showing 80 percent of Democrats and 41 percent of Republicans view Israel negatively, and invoked growing anger over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's military operations in Gaza and Lebanon and his alignment with Trump on Iran policy.
"Let us be clear: the American people have had enough," Sanders said on the Senate floor. He criticized the influence of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which has spent tens of millions in recent election cycles, and told colleagues they should "start listening to their constituents and not just to the wealthy individuals who fund Aipac."
The resistance to weapons transfers extends beyond the Senate. House progressives including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ro Khanna have gone further, saying they won't support any military aid to Israel, even for defensive systems like the Iron Dome missile shield. Khanna suggested Israel should buy such weapons with its own money.
Activist groups have intensified pressure on Democrats. A coalition including Indivisible, MoveOn, and Jewish Voice for Peace sent senators a letter urging support for blocking the sales, calling them a chance to send a message opposing continued hostilities with Iran. They cited concerns that the 1,000-pound bombs have been used in densely populated areas in Gaza and Lebanon with documented civilian deaths, and that bulldozers have demolished homes and neighborhoods across Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon.
In New York, dozens of protesters were arrested outside the offices of Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, the Senate's top Democrat, demanding they back Sanders's resolutions. Both voted against them, continuing their previous stance.
Some Democrats voting no tried to thread a needle between supporting Israel as an ally and opposing Netanyahu's conduct. Senator Chris Coons of Delaware said his votes against the arms sales measures should not be read as endorsement of the Netanyahu government, but he could not "abandon our steadfast ally, Israel, and the Americans who live within its borders."
On the same day, Senate Democrats forced a vote on a war powers resolution that would block Trump from continuing hostilities with Iran. That measure also failed, but Democrats used it as a pressure tactic against an unpopular conflict.
Author James Rodriguez: "The numbers show real movement, but they're still far short of a majority. What matters is whether this trend continues as election season heats up."
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