THE United States Senate has rejected a bill that aimed to block a US weapons sale to Israel amid the country’s war on Gaza, an outcome that rights advocates say does not take away from a growing push to condition aid to Washington’s top ally.
A resolution to halt the sale of tank rounds failed to advance in a 79 to 18 vote on Wednesday, with prominent progressives and mainstream Democratic senators backing the effort.
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Two more resolutions to halt the sale of other weapons also failed after winning fewer than 20 votes.
Senator Bernie Sanders introduced the so-called Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRDs) in September to oppose a $20bn weapons deal approved by the administration of President Joe Biden.
It was the first time ever that a weapons sale to Israel was subjected to such a vote.
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While support for the push may appear minimal, it represents a crack in the bipartisan consensus over unconditional US aid to Israel.
Beth Miller, political director at the US-based advocacy group Jewish Voice for Peace, said the vote is an “inflexion point” in the decades-long effort to restrict Washington’s military assistance to Israel.
“This is too little too late; this genocide has been going on for 13 months, but that does not change the fact that this is a critically important step,” Miller told Al Jazeera.
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In addition to Sanders, Senators Peter Welch, Jeff Merkley, Chris Van Hollen, Tim Kaine and Brian Schatz backed the resolution to block offensive munitions to Israel.
While Sanders is a progressive independent who caucuses with Democrats, some of the lawmakers who backed the effort come from the mainstream wing of the party.
