Sanders Forces Senate Vote to Halt $486 Million Bomb Sale to Israel

Senator Bernie Sanders announced Monday he will use a rare procedural move to bring legislation blocking the sale of $486 million in bombs and bulldozers to Israel directly to the Senate floor this week. The Vermont independent wrote on X that he will "force the vote" without approval from Majority Leader John Thune, a maneuver that requires only 30 senators' signatures but rarely succeeds in the Republican-controlled chamber. The measure targets specific military equipment Sanders says the "extremist Netanyahu government" should not receive from American taxpayers.

The announcement followed a day of civil disobedience in Manhattan where 90 protesters were arrested outside the offices of Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Jewish Voice for Peace organized the demonstration after security blocked hundreds from entering the building for a planned sit-in. Among those taken into custody were whistle-blower Chelsea Manning, actor Hari Nef, and New York City Council Member Alexa Aviles. Protesters chanted "fund people, not bombs" as police loaded them onto three buses.

Last July's similar resolution failed 27-70, but a majority of Senate Democrats voted for it—marking the first time most in the party broke with decades of unconditional military aid to Israel. Public opinion has shifted dramatically since then. A February Gallup poll found only 46 percent of Americans view Israel favorably, with just 17 percent of Democrats expressing more sympathy for Israelis than Palestinians. Young voters show even steeper declines in support.

J Street, the prominent liberal Zionist group that describes itself as pro-Israel and pro-peace, called Monday for phasing out US military aid to Israel. The group cited "the war in Gaza, rising extremist Jewish terror in the West Bank and the US-Israel war with Iran" as reasons for "a fundamental reassessment of the US-Israel security relationship." J Street urged applying existing US laws that restrict security assistance to countries committing rights abuses, arguing successive administrations have breached these statutes to maintain weapons flows to Israel.

The United States provided Israel with more than $21 billion in military aid during the first two years of its war on Gaza. Sanders' resolution comes as the US-Israel alliance faces scrutiny over civilian deaths in Gaza and the unauthorized joint military campaign against Iran. The senator argues that continuing to supply bombs and bulldozers makes America complicit in what he terms genocide, while critics say withholding aid would embolden Iran and weaken Israel's defensive capabilities.

Even if Sanders' resolution fails as expected, the vote will force every senator to take a public position on military aid to Israel weeks before midterm elections. The measure requires only a simple majority to pass, but faces near-unanimous Republican opposition and likely resistance from several Democrats who maintain that Israel's security remains vital to US interests. Successive administrations have waived human rights restrictions on Israeli aid, a practice J Street now says must end regardless of Tuesday's outcome.