Sanctions Against Israel Are Long Overdue
If Netanyahu’s war machine is not stopped, the annihilation of the Palestinian people will continue, major parts of the Gaza Strip will be annexed with a plan for Jewish resettlement, and the annexation of the West Bank will be finalized.
A man wails after Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City, Gaza on October 9, 2023.
(Photo: Belal Khaled/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
C.J. Polychroniou
Aug 02, 2025
If Netanyahu’s war machine is not stopped, the annihilation of the Palestinian people will continue, major parts of the Gaza Strip will be annexed with a plan for Jewish resettlement, and the annexation of the West Bank will be finalized.
A man wails after Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City, Gaza on October 9, 2023.
(Photo: Belal Khaled/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
C.J. Polychroniou
Aug 02, 2025
Common Dreams
The use of sanctions to coerce states to change policy and behavior has a long history, dating back to antiquity. In 432 BC, the Athenian statesman Pericles issued the “Megarian Decree,” which banned merchants of Megara from accessing harbors and marketplaces in the Athenian empire. In the modern times, economic sanctions took primarily the form of naval blockades. The first naval blockade is believed to have been “declared by the Dutch in 1584.” In the 19th century, pacific blockades became a common strategy of powerful European states, with the aim being to weaken the economy of the enemy. In the early 20th century, the League of Nations used sanctions to compel aggressors to abandon the resort to arms, as it did in the case of Italy in order to discontinue that country’s aggression against Ethiopia.
However, since the end of World War II, it has been primarily the United States that has been resorting to sanctions in order to punish nations or non-state actors for pursuing policies or engaging in actions that pose a challenge to its guest for global dominance. The U.S. embargo against Cuba, which has endured for over 60 years and touches every aspect of Cuban life, stands out as the longest sanctions regime in modern history even though it is illegal and has been denounced by the United Nations General Assembly over 30 times. Only Israel sides with the U.S. for the continuation of the economic, commercial, and financial embargo on Cuba.
Because of its unique relationship with the global hegemon, Israel is one country that has escaped comprehensive sanctions against it in spite of what Amnesty International has called its “ruthless policies of land confiscation, illegal settlement and dispossession,” coupled with large-scale massacres and accusations of being an apartheid state that is now committing genocidal acts in Gaza. The time, however, has come for the international community to take strong measures against the far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and impose “crippling sanctions” on the Israeli economy and thus on its war machine.
Such course of action is long overdue, but it is gaining traction across the globe, even inside Israel. The Hague Group, a group of nations from the Global South, has not only decried Israel’s actions in Gaza but called on all states on July 16 following a two-day summit in Bogotá, which brought together representatives from over 30 states, to impose a series of sanctions against Israel in order to stop the genocide and apartheid. Brazil has already moved forward with imposing forceful sanctions against Israel, which include exports of military material. Brazil’s foreign minister delivered a powerful speech at a high-level United Nations conference on Palestine on July 28 in which he said that his country “will not tolerate Israeli impunity.” High-profile Israeli figures have also urged “crippling sanctions” on Israel over its starvation-driven campaign in Gaza.
The tide is indeed turning. The West’s shameful silence on Gaza for the past 21 or so months is coming to an end.
Very belatedly, but Europe is also losing patience with Israel. Several European countries, which include Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, and lately Sweden, are calling for the suspension of the E.U.-Israel Association Agreement in order to stop the genocide. More than 80 British Members of Parliament and Lords have issued a call for the U.K. government to impose widespread sanctions on Israel. Fifty-eight former ambassadors of the European Union have lambasted the E.U. for its “complicity” over its silence on Israeli genocide and urged all European leaders and government to take immediate measures to end “atrocity crimes against the Palestinian people—above all in Gaza, but also in the occupied West Bank.”
Indeed, in their letter, the 58 former E.U. envoys went to great lengths not only to highlight Israel’s crimes in Gaza but also to underscore the vile plan of the far-right Israeli government for annexation of the occupied West Bank. They wrote:
…Meanwhile, in the West Bank, violent Israeli settlers, with full protection by the Israeli military, have waged a campaign of terror against Palestinian communities. Homes are torched, inhabitants are murdered, families expelled, water sources poisoned, herding animals stolen, olive groves destroyed, and land annexed in violation of international law. The perpetrators who act with impunity are armed and encouraged by state officials. These settlers are not rogue actors—they are the front-line agents of a government-driven agenda to annex and ethnically cleanse Palestinian land.
The tide is indeed turning. The West’s shameful silence on Gaza for the past 21 or so months is coming to an end. In a first, the European Commission recommended the suspension of Israel’s access to the E.U.’s research and innovation fund over the apocalyptic situation in Gaza, but Germany and Italy blocked the proposal.
In the U.S., of course, the situation remains very dismal. The Trump administration is sanctioning individuals who criticize Israel and call for economic sanctions against its key ally, such as Francesca Paola Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, and scolds those European governments that are preparing to recognize a Palestinian state. And the Senate has just rejected a resolution introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to block arms sales to Israel over its destruction of Gaza. Yet, a record number of Democrats voted in support of Sander’s resolution to block U.S. military sales to Israel, while polls show that U.S. public support for Israel’s actions in Gaza has dropped to a new low.
Pending on one’s philosophical perspective on the fundamental nature of reality, the situation on starving and besieged Gaza with regard to the urgent need of imposing “crippling sanctions” on Israel, which Netanyahu and his far-right government has turned into an autocracy, a global pariah, and an outright rogue state, is either a glass-half-full or a glass-half-empty. Regardless, the point is that if Netanyahu’s war machine is not stopped, the annihilation of the Palestinian people will continue, major parts of the Gaza Strip will be annexed with a plan for Jewish resettlement, and the annexation of the West Bank will be finalized.
“Denial” about what is happening in Gaza may be “legitimate” in Israel, as the iconic Israeli journalist Gideon Levy recently put it, but should be seen as a totally intolerable situation for every government across the globe that professes to respect human rights and claims not to tolerate barbarity in our own age, even though we know fully well that what guides state policies are rarely moral considerations. Putting an end to Israel’s atrocities in Gaza and the West Bank is first and foremost about stopping Israeli killings of Palestinians but is also about restoring human dignity and human decency for our entire species.
The use of sanctions to coerce states to change policy and behavior has a long history, dating back to antiquity. In 432 BC, the Athenian statesman Pericles issued the “Megarian Decree,” which banned merchants of Megara from accessing harbors and marketplaces in the Athenian empire. In the modern times, economic sanctions took primarily the form of naval blockades. The first naval blockade is believed to have been “declared by the Dutch in 1584.” In the 19th century, pacific blockades became a common strategy of powerful European states, with the aim being to weaken the economy of the enemy. In the early 20th century, the League of Nations used sanctions to compel aggressors to abandon the resort to arms, as it did in the case of Italy in order to discontinue that country’s aggression against Ethiopia.
However, since the end of World War II, it has been primarily the United States that has been resorting to sanctions in order to punish nations or non-state actors for pursuing policies or engaging in actions that pose a challenge to its guest for global dominance. The U.S. embargo against Cuba, which has endured for over 60 years and touches every aspect of Cuban life, stands out as the longest sanctions regime in modern history even though it is illegal and has been denounced by the United Nations General Assembly over 30 times. Only Israel sides with the U.S. for the continuation of the economic, commercial, and financial embargo on Cuba.
Because of its unique relationship with the global hegemon, Israel is one country that has escaped comprehensive sanctions against it in spite of what Amnesty International has called its “ruthless policies of land confiscation, illegal settlement and dispossession,” coupled with large-scale massacres and accusations of being an apartheid state that is now committing genocidal acts in Gaza. The time, however, has come for the international community to take strong measures against the far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and impose “crippling sanctions” on the Israeli economy and thus on its war machine.
Such course of action is long overdue, but it is gaining traction across the globe, even inside Israel. The Hague Group, a group of nations from the Global South, has not only decried Israel’s actions in Gaza but called on all states on July 16 following a two-day summit in Bogotá, which brought together representatives from over 30 states, to impose a series of sanctions against Israel in order to stop the genocide and apartheid. Brazil has already moved forward with imposing forceful sanctions against Israel, which include exports of military material. Brazil’s foreign minister delivered a powerful speech at a high-level United Nations conference on Palestine on July 28 in which he said that his country “will not tolerate Israeli impunity.” High-profile Israeli figures have also urged “crippling sanctions” on Israel over its starvation-driven campaign in Gaza.
The tide is indeed turning. The West’s shameful silence on Gaza for the past 21 or so months is coming to an end.
Very belatedly, but Europe is also losing patience with Israel. Several European countries, which include Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, and lately Sweden, are calling for the suspension of the E.U.-Israel Association Agreement in order to stop the genocide. More than 80 British Members of Parliament and Lords have issued a call for the U.K. government to impose widespread sanctions on Israel. Fifty-eight former ambassadors of the European Union have lambasted the E.U. for its “complicity” over its silence on Israeli genocide and urged all European leaders and government to take immediate measures to end “atrocity crimes against the Palestinian people—above all in Gaza, but also in the occupied West Bank.”
Indeed, in their letter, the 58 former E.U. envoys went to great lengths not only to highlight Israel’s crimes in Gaza but also to underscore the vile plan of the far-right Israeli government for annexation of the occupied West Bank. They wrote:
…Meanwhile, in the West Bank, violent Israeli settlers, with full protection by the Israeli military, have waged a campaign of terror against Palestinian communities. Homes are torched, inhabitants are murdered, families expelled, water sources poisoned, herding animals stolen, olive groves destroyed, and land annexed in violation of international law. The perpetrators who act with impunity are armed and encouraged by state officials. These settlers are not rogue actors—they are the front-line agents of a government-driven agenda to annex and ethnically cleanse Palestinian land.
The tide is indeed turning. The West’s shameful silence on Gaza for the past 21 or so months is coming to an end. In a first, the European Commission recommended the suspension of Israel’s access to the E.U.’s research and innovation fund over the apocalyptic situation in Gaza, but Germany and Italy blocked the proposal.
In the U.S., of course, the situation remains very dismal. The Trump administration is sanctioning individuals who criticize Israel and call for economic sanctions against its key ally, such as Francesca Paola Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, and scolds those European governments that are preparing to recognize a Palestinian state. And the Senate has just rejected a resolution introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to block arms sales to Israel over its destruction of Gaza. Yet, a record number of Democrats voted in support of Sander’s resolution to block U.S. military sales to Israel, while polls show that U.S. public support for Israel’s actions in Gaza has dropped to a new low.
Pending on one’s philosophical perspective on the fundamental nature of reality, the situation on starving and besieged Gaza with regard to the urgent need of imposing “crippling sanctions” on Israel, which Netanyahu and his far-right government has turned into an autocracy, a global pariah, and an outright rogue state, is either a glass-half-full or a glass-half-empty. Regardless, the point is that if Netanyahu’s war machine is not stopped, the annihilation of the Palestinian people will continue, major parts of the Gaza Strip will be annexed with a plan for Jewish resettlement, and the annexation of the West Bank will be finalized.
“Denial” about what is happening in Gaza may be “legitimate” in Israel, as the iconic Israeli journalist Gideon Levy recently put it, but should be seen as a totally intolerable situation for every government across the globe that professes to respect human rights and claims not to tolerate barbarity in our own age, even though we know fully well that what guides state policies are rarely moral considerations. Putting an end to Israel’s atrocities in Gaza and the West Bank is first and foremost about stopping Israeli killings of Palestinians but is also about restoring human dignity and human decency for our entire species.
CAIR-Chicago to Call for DOJ Probe of Killing of U.S. Citizen by Israeli Forces, Illegal Settlers in Occupied West Bank
For Immediate Release
Friday August, 01 2025
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
Contact:
Ahmed Rehab, arehab@cair.com | Jordan Esparza-Kelley, j-esparzakelley@cair.com
Chicago - Later today, the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago) will hold a news conference to condemn the brutal murder of Khamis Ayyad, an American citizen from the Chicagoland and call for a DOJ probe.
Khamis Ayyad was a beloved father of five, whose life was tragically taken during a settler arson attack in the occupied West Bank on July 31, 2025, that targeted Palestinian cars and homes in the town of Silwad where Khamis rushed to help extinguish the fires. He was killed by the smoke, and reportedly gas fired by the Israeli army.
Khamis Ayyad’s tragic killing is not an isolated incident; it is emblematic of the pervasive injustice faced by Palestinians and the urgent need for accountability, human rights protections, and immediate US pressure to stave off the violence in Gaza and the West Bank that is often funded by American taxpayers.
SEE: Palestinian man dies in Israeli settler arson attack in occupied West Bank
As the genocide and starvation campaigns in Gaza rage on, reports indicate that illegal Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank has increased in frequency and intensity – often with the backing of the Israeli military – as far-right Israeli ministers signaled impunity for attackers.
Earlier this week, Awdah Hathaleen, a Palestinian from Masafer Yatta, the community whose resistance to Israeli settler violence was documented in the Oscar-winning film No Other Land, with which he helped, was killed by an Israeli settler. The suspect, identified as Yinon Levi, was placed under house arrest on Tuesday after a Magistrate Court in Jerusalem declined to keep him in custody.
Earlier in July, another American citizen from Tampa was murdered in the West Bank.
SEE: World Palestinian-American from Tampa beaten to death in West Bank
According to the latest data from the UN’s humanitarian office (OCHA), at least 159 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops in the West Bank between January 1 and July 21 of this year.
The cycle of settler violence, military incursions, and oppressive policies underpin a climate of fear and instability that deeply affects families like Khamis Ayyad’s.
CAIR Chicago calls on the White House, Congress, and Illinois elected officials to condemn the murder of Khamis Ayyad and call for an end to funding occupation and apartheid.
Our thoughts are with Khamis Ayyad’s family and loved ones during this heartbreaking time. We reaffirm our commitment to advocating for justice, human rights, and the dignity of all individuals affected by this ongoing conflict.
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
For Immediate Release
Friday August, 01 2025
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
Contact:
Ahmed Rehab, arehab@cair.com | Jordan Esparza-Kelley, j-esparzakelley@cair.com
Chicago - Later today, the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago) will hold a news conference to condemn the brutal murder of Khamis Ayyad, an American citizen from the Chicagoland and call for a DOJ probe.
Khamis Ayyad was a beloved father of five, whose life was tragically taken during a settler arson attack in the occupied West Bank on July 31, 2025, that targeted Palestinian cars and homes in the town of Silwad where Khamis rushed to help extinguish the fires. He was killed by the smoke, and reportedly gas fired by the Israeli army.
Khamis Ayyad’s tragic killing is not an isolated incident; it is emblematic of the pervasive injustice faced by Palestinians and the urgent need for accountability, human rights protections, and immediate US pressure to stave off the violence in Gaza and the West Bank that is often funded by American taxpayers.
SEE: Palestinian man dies in Israeli settler arson attack in occupied West Bank
As the genocide and starvation campaigns in Gaza rage on, reports indicate that illegal Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank has increased in frequency and intensity – often with the backing of the Israeli military – as far-right Israeli ministers signaled impunity for attackers.
Earlier this week, Awdah Hathaleen, a Palestinian from Masafer Yatta, the community whose resistance to Israeli settler violence was documented in the Oscar-winning film No Other Land, with which he helped, was killed by an Israeli settler. The suspect, identified as Yinon Levi, was placed under house arrest on Tuesday after a Magistrate Court in Jerusalem declined to keep him in custody.
Earlier in July, another American citizen from Tampa was murdered in the West Bank.
SEE: World Palestinian-American from Tampa beaten to death in West Bank
According to the latest data from the UN’s humanitarian office (OCHA), at least 159 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops in the West Bank between January 1 and July 21 of this year.
The cycle of settler violence, military incursions, and oppressive policies underpin a climate of fear and instability that deeply affects families like Khamis Ayyad’s.
CAIR Chicago calls on the White House, Congress, and Illinois elected officials to condemn the murder of Khamis Ayyad and call for an end to funding occupation and apartheid.
Our thoughts are with Khamis Ayyad’s family and loved ones during this heartbreaking time. We reaffirm our commitment to advocating for justice, human rights, and the dignity of all individuals affected by this ongoing conflict.
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
"Israel is systematically destroying Palestinian life and society, and Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand are writing the checks," said a spokesperson for New York City Councilwoman Tiffany Cabán, who was arrested.
Fifty protesters were arrested at the Manhattan offices of U.S. Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, both New York Democrats, on August 1, 2025.
(Photo: Ken Schles/Jewish Voice for Peace)
Jessica Corbett
Aug 01, 2025
COMMON DREAMS
The advocacy group Jewish Voice for Peace announced Friday that 50 people, including elected officials, were arrested at the Manhattan offices of U.S. Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer while protesting the New York Democrats' continued support for Israel as it annihilates the Gaza Strip.
"The deliberate and shameless killing of Palestinians in Gaza is enraging the world," said scholar Judith Butler, a member of the Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Academic Advisory Council, in a statement. "If it is not bombing or shooting, it is a strategic plan of starvation, all of which are crimes against humanity. It is time, past time, to cease looking away. Actions such as ours are a message to all those who look away: Wake up, take a stand, and demand the end to this genocide."
Although a majority of U.S. Senate Democrats this week supported Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) latest effort to block additional arms sales to Israel, Gillibrand and Schumer, the chamber's minority leader, opposed the resolutions.
"It is absolutely unconscionable that Sens. Schumer and Gillibrand continue to arm the Israeli military while it carries out genocide against Palestinians and uses starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza," JVP's Jay Saper, who had family members killed in the Holocaust, said Friday. "The echoes of the past are not lost on us. We refuse to be silent—because never again is now."
The advocacy group Jewish Voice for Peace announced Friday that 50 people, including elected officials, were arrested at the Manhattan offices of U.S. Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer while protesting the New York Democrats' continued support for Israel as it annihilates the Gaza Strip.
"The deliberate and shameless killing of Palestinians in Gaza is enraging the world," said scholar Judith Butler, a member of the Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Academic Advisory Council, in a statement. "If it is not bombing or shooting, it is a strategic plan of starvation, all of which are crimes against humanity. It is time, past time, to cease looking away. Actions such as ours are a message to all those who look away: Wake up, take a stand, and demand the end to this genocide."
Although a majority of U.S. Senate Democrats this week supported Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) latest effort to block additional arms sales to Israel, Gillibrand and Schumer, the chamber's minority leader, opposed the resolutions.
"It is absolutely unconscionable that Sens. Schumer and Gillibrand continue to arm the Israeli military while it carries out genocide against Palestinians and uses starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza," JVP's Jay Saper, who had family members killed in the Holocaust, said Friday. "The echoes of the past are not lost on us. We refuse to be silent—because never again is now."
Around 200 protesters gathered at the Manhattan offices of U.S. Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, both New York Democrats, on August 1, 2025. (Photo: Ken Schles/Jewish Voice for Peace)
Protesters wore shirts with the message "Let Gaza Live," banged on pots and pans, and chanted "stop starving Gaza" in the lobby of the Third Avenue building. They held banners with messages including: "Jews for Palestinian Freedom," "Stop Arming Israel," and "End the Blockade."
Since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, the Israeli government has not only directed its forces to decimate Gaza but also severely restricted the flow of humanitarian aid into the coastal enclave. More than 150 people have died from starvation, according to local officials. Experts believe the official death toll of at least 60,332 is likely an undercount.
Outraged by the conditions in Gaza—enabled by the U.S. Congress and both the Biden and Trump administrations—200 people demonstrated at the Senate offices, JVP said. Protesters included New York City Councilwomen Alexa Avilés (D-38) and Tiffany Cabán (D-22), state Assemblywoman Claire Valdez (D-37), and actor Sara Ramirez.
The New York Daily News reported that Cabán and Valdez were among the protesters arrested, zip-tied, and put on decommissioned Metropolitan Transportation Authority buses. Cabán's spokesperson, Arden Dressner Levy, said she was taken into police custody for "participating in civil disobedience" to demand that "Israel stop starving Gaza."
"Israeli attacks in Gaza have created the highest rate of child amputees in the world. Israel is blocking food, medicine, and baby formula from entering Gaza. Israel is systematically destroying Palestinian life and society, and Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand are writing the checks," Levy told the outlet. "Never again is now."
Religious leaders also joined the protest. Rabbi Abby Stein of the JVP Rabbinic Council said that "Jewish teachings compel us to take action to save lives. That is why we support blocking the sales of deadly U.S. weapons to the Israeli military, which is one of the few tools available to members of Congress that could actually, and immediately, save lives."
The protest came as U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and President Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, visited one of the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid distribution sites.
In response to their trip to Gaza, Oxfam America director of peace and security Scott Paul said that "we do not have time for symbolic measures—a few more trucks, airdrops, and humanitarian pauses may be better than nothing—but in reality, they are far more effective in grabbing headlines than they are at saving lives."
Protesters wore shirts with the message "Let Gaza Live," banged on pots and pans, and chanted "stop starving Gaza" in the lobby of the Third Avenue building. They held banners with messages including: "Jews for Palestinian Freedom," "Stop Arming Israel," and "End the Blockade."
Since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, the Israeli government has not only directed its forces to decimate Gaza but also severely restricted the flow of humanitarian aid into the coastal enclave. More than 150 people have died from starvation, according to local officials. Experts believe the official death toll of at least 60,332 is likely an undercount.
Outraged by the conditions in Gaza—enabled by the U.S. Congress and both the Biden and Trump administrations—200 people demonstrated at the Senate offices, JVP said. Protesters included New York City Councilwomen Alexa Avilés (D-38) and Tiffany Cabán (D-22), state Assemblywoman Claire Valdez (D-37), and actor Sara Ramirez.
The New York Daily News reported that Cabán and Valdez were among the protesters arrested, zip-tied, and put on decommissioned Metropolitan Transportation Authority buses. Cabán's spokesperson, Arden Dressner Levy, said she was taken into police custody for "participating in civil disobedience" to demand that "Israel stop starving Gaza."
"Israeli attacks in Gaza have created the highest rate of child amputees in the world. Israel is blocking food, medicine, and baby formula from entering Gaza. Israel is systematically destroying Palestinian life and society, and Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand are writing the checks," Levy told the outlet. "Never again is now."
Religious leaders also joined the protest. Rabbi Abby Stein of the JVP Rabbinic Council said that "Jewish teachings compel us to take action to save lives. That is why we support blocking the sales of deadly U.S. weapons to the Israeli military, which is one of the few tools available to members of Congress that could actually, and immediately, save lives."
The protest came as U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and President Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, visited one of the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid distribution sites.
In response to their trip to Gaza, Oxfam America director of peace and security Scott Paul said that "we do not have time for symbolic measures—a few more trucks, airdrops, and humanitarian pauses may be better than nothing—but in reality, they are far more effective in grabbing headlines than they are at saving lives."
'The Tide Is Turning,' Says Sanders as Majority of Senate Dems Vote to Block Arms Sales to Israel
"The American people do not want to spend billions to starve children in Gaza," said Sen. Bernie Sanders. "The Democrats are moving forward on this issue, and I look forward to Republican support in the near future."
Palestinians form a line to receive hot meals in Gaza's al-Zeitoun neighborhood on July 31, 2025.
(Photo: Abdalhkem Abu Riash/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Jake Johnson
Jul 31, 2025
COMMON DREAMS
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders' latest effort to block additional American arms sales to Israel failed again late Wednesday at the hands of every Republican senator and some Democrats.
But a majority of the Senate Democratic caucus voted in favor of Sanders-led resolutions that aimed to halt the Trump administration's sale of 1,000-pound bombs, Joint Direct Attack Munition guidance kits, and tens of thousands of assault rifles to the Israeli government.
The first resolution, S.J.Res.41, failed by a vote of 27-70, and the second, S.J.Res.34, failed by a vote of 24-73, with the effort to block the sale of assault rifles to the Israeli government garnering slightly more support than the bid to prevent the sale of bombs.
The following senators voted to block the assault rifle sale: Sanders, Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Angus King (I-Maine), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (Wash.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).
And the following senators voted to block the sale of additional bombs: Sanders, Alsobrooks, Baldwin, Blunt Rochester, Duckworth, Durbin, Heinrich, Hirono, Kaine, Kim, King, Klobuchar, Luján, Markey, Merkley, Murphy, Murray, Schatz, Shaheen, Smith, Van Hollen, Warnock, Warren, and Welch.
Three Democratic senators—Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly of Arizona and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan—did not vote on either resolution.
"Every senator who voted to continue sending weapons today voted against the will of their constituents."
In a statement responding to the vote, Sanders said growing Democratic support for halting arms sales to the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is an indication that "the tide is turning" in the face of Israel's "horrific, immoral, and illegal war against the Palestinian people."
"The American people do not want to spend billions to starve children in Gaza," the senator said. "The Democrats are moving forward on this issue, and I look forward to Republican support in the near future."
Wednesday's votes revealed a significant increase in support for halting U.S. military support for the Israeli government compared to earlier this year, when only 14 Democratic senators backed similar Sanders-led resolutions.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who did not vote on the Sanders resolutions in April, said Wednesday that "this legislative tool is not perfect, but frankly it is time to say enough to the suffering of innocent young children and families."
"As a longtime friend and supporter of Israel, I am voting yes to send a message: The Netanyahu government cannot continue with this strategy," said Murray. "Netanyahu has prolonged this war at every turn to stay in power. We are witnessing a man-made famine in Gaza—children and families should not be dying from starvation or disease when literal tons of aid and supplies are just sitting across the border."
The Senate votes came days after the official death toll in Gaza surpassed 60,000 and a new poll showed that U.S. public support for Israel's assault on the Palestinian enclave reached a new low, with just 32% of respondents expressing approval. The Gallup survey found that support among Democratic voters has cratered, with just 8% voicing approval of the Israeli assault.
"The vast majority of Democratic voters say Israel is committing genocide, and have repeatedly demanded that their party's elected officials in Congress stop helping President Trump deliver more and more weapons to Israel with our tax dollars," Margaret DeReus, executive director of the Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project, said Wednesday. "Tonight proved that an increasing number of Democrats in the Senate–more than half of the Democratic caucus–are hearing that demand."
Beth Miller, political director of Jewish Voice for Peace Action, called the vote "unprecedented" and said it "shows that the dam is breaking in U.S. politics."
"Our job is to increase the pressure on every member of Congress to stop all weapons and military funding," said Miller. "For 22 months, the U.S. has enabled, funded, and armed the Israeli government's slaughter and starvation in Gaza, and still the majority of senators just voted to continue sending weapons to a military live-streaming its crimes against humanity."
"The overwhelming majority of Americans want to stop the flow of deadly weapons to the Israeli military and end U.S. complicity in its horrific genocide against Palestinians," Miller added. "Every senator who voted to continue sending weapons today voted against the will of their constituents."
"The American people do not want to spend billions to starve children in Gaza," said Sen. Bernie Sanders. "The Democrats are moving forward on this issue, and I look forward to Republican support in the near future."
Palestinians form a line to receive hot meals in Gaza's al-Zeitoun neighborhood on July 31, 2025.
(Photo: Abdalhkem Abu Riash/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Jake Johnson
Jul 31, 2025
COMMON DREAMS
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders' latest effort to block additional American arms sales to Israel failed again late Wednesday at the hands of every Republican senator and some Democrats.
But a majority of the Senate Democratic caucus voted in favor of Sanders-led resolutions that aimed to halt the Trump administration's sale of 1,000-pound bombs, Joint Direct Attack Munition guidance kits, and tens of thousands of assault rifles to the Israeli government.
The first resolution, S.J.Res.41, failed by a vote of 27-70, and the second, S.J.Res.34, failed by a vote of 24-73, with the effort to block the sale of assault rifles to the Israeli government garnering slightly more support than the bid to prevent the sale of bombs.
The following senators voted to block the assault rifle sale: Sanders, Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Angus King (I-Maine), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (Wash.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).
And the following senators voted to block the sale of additional bombs: Sanders, Alsobrooks, Baldwin, Blunt Rochester, Duckworth, Durbin, Heinrich, Hirono, Kaine, Kim, King, Klobuchar, Luján, Markey, Merkley, Murphy, Murray, Schatz, Shaheen, Smith, Van Hollen, Warnock, Warren, and Welch.
Three Democratic senators—Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly of Arizona and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan—did not vote on either resolution.
"Every senator who voted to continue sending weapons today voted against the will of their constituents."
In a statement responding to the vote, Sanders said growing Democratic support for halting arms sales to the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is an indication that "the tide is turning" in the face of Israel's "horrific, immoral, and illegal war against the Palestinian people."
"The American people do not want to spend billions to starve children in Gaza," the senator said. "The Democrats are moving forward on this issue, and I look forward to Republican support in the near future."
Wednesday's votes revealed a significant increase in support for halting U.S. military support for the Israeli government compared to earlier this year, when only 14 Democratic senators backed similar Sanders-led resolutions.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who did not vote on the Sanders resolutions in April, said Wednesday that "this legislative tool is not perfect, but frankly it is time to say enough to the suffering of innocent young children and families."
"As a longtime friend and supporter of Israel, I am voting yes to send a message: The Netanyahu government cannot continue with this strategy," said Murray. "Netanyahu has prolonged this war at every turn to stay in power. We are witnessing a man-made famine in Gaza—children and families should not be dying from starvation or disease when literal tons of aid and supplies are just sitting across the border."
The Senate votes came days after the official death toll in Gaza surpassed 60,000 and a new poll showed that U.S. public support for Israel's assault on the Palestinian enclave reached a new low, with just 32% of respondents expressing approval. The Gallup survey found that support among Democratic voters has cratered, with just 8% voicing approval of the Israeli assault.
"The vast majority of Democratic voters say Israel is committing genocide, and have repeatedly demanded that their party's elected officials in Congress stop helping President Trump deliver more and more weapons to Israel with our tax dollars," Margaret DeReus, executive director of the Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project, said Wednesday. "Tonight proved that an increasing number of Democrats in the Senate–more than half of the Democratic caucus–are hearing that demand."
Beth Miller, political director of Jewish Voice for Peace Action, called the vote "unprecedented" and said it "shows that the dam is breaking in U.S. politics."
"Our job is to increase the pressure on every member of Congress to stop all weapons and military funding," said Miller. "For 22 months, the U.S. has enabled, funded, and armed the Israeli government's slaughter and starvation in Gaza, and still the majority of senators just voted to continue sending weapons to a military live-streaming its crimes against humanity."
"The overwhelming majority of Americans want to stop the flow of deadly weapons to the Israeli military and end U.S. complicity in its horrific genocide against Palestinians," Miller added. "Every senator who voted to continue sending weapons today voted against the will of their constituents."
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