In a fiery speech, Sen. Bernie Sanders tore into Congress on Thursday over the federal government’s military support for Israel — just before the Senate overwhelmingly voted against the Vermont Independent’s resolutions to block billions of dollars in U.S. weapons sales to the country accused of war crimes.
Sanders had introduced multiple Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRD) in the Senate to block more than $8.8 billion worth of arms transfers to the Israeli military. Israel has largely been using them to wipe out buildings and infrastructure in Gaza and, per Gaza health officials, kill more than 50,000 Palestinians over the past year and a half.
“What we are talking about is a mass atrocity,” Sanders said on the Senate floor. “And what makes it even worse — and why I am here today, and why I have introduced the resolutions that we will soon be voting on — is that we as Americans are deeply complicit in all that is happening in Gaza.”
The Trump administration has essentially bypassed the standard procedure for approving weapons packages to foreign countries, formally notifying Congress of the sales before allowing each chamber’s respective foreign affairs committees to exercise oversight and review the transfer. The packages include tens of thousands of 2,000-pound bombs, which have a lethal radius of about 89 football fields.
“Ain’t a whole lot left,” Sanders said, pointing to a photo of Gaza’s infrastructure reduced to rubble. “I don’t know why they need any more bombs, they’ve basically destroyed the entire area. Nothing much left to be destroyed.”
Sanders made efforts to appeal to his colleagues with alarming statistics, haunting images, and the disproportionate toll on women and children — at one point growing louder and angrier as he tried to explain Palestinian suffering in Gaza. Since October 2023, local health officials say Israeli forces have injured more than 110,000 people in the territory in addition to the 50,000 killed.
“What is happening right now is unthinkable,” Sanders yelled. “Today, it is 31 days and counting with absolutely no humanitarian aid getting into Gaza. Nothing! No food, no water, no medicine, no fuel for over a month. That is a clear violation of the Geneva Convention, the Foreign Assistance Act and basic human decency.
“It is a war crime! You don’t starve children!” he continued. “And it is pushing things toward an even deeper catastrophe.”
““What we are talking about is a mass atrocity, And what makes it even worse … is that we as Americans are deeply complicit in all that is happening in Gaza.””
– Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
Despite polling showing that most Americans support a halt to the weapons transfers, the Senate still voted against Sanders’ resolutions. The senator was joined by only 14 Democrats — shockingly, four fewer than when he introduced similar resolutions in November. No Republicans voted with them.
“It’s disgraceful that some senators flipped their support & now agree to slaughter children with U.S. bombs,” wrote Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who with Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) introduced a version of Sanders’ resolutions in the House.
“Americans want to stop arming the Israeli gov’t,” she continued in a post on X. “We will remember who agreed to send 35,000 one-ton bombs to kill Palestinians.”
Sanders warned that the decision to continue militarily supporting Israel’s war in Gaza will negatively impact America’s standing in the world — a concern echoed by A New Policy co-founder Josh Paul, who resigned from the Biden administration over the continued weapons sales to Israel.
“The transfer of these arms by consecutive presidents undermines our credibility and morality as a global power — while Congress’ quiescence is a failure of our elected officials to stand up for the application of our own laws,” Paul said, adding that such policy decisions will not bring Israel back to the table to negotiate a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
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Sanders described it similarly: “You’re not gonna be able to look at China or Russia or Saudi Arabia or any other country and say, ‘Look, how terrible! Look what they’re doing to the children, to the women, to innocent people!’ We will have no credibility. The state will come back say, ’Really? You’re really concerned about China, Russia, Saudi Arabia maybe? Hey, take a look at what you supported in Gaza, and the billions of dollars in aid you gave to Netanyahu’s government.”
