Bernie Sanders pushes to block US arms sale to Israel: All you need to know

Washington, DC – The United States Senate volition ballot aboriginal this week connected bills to artifact a $20bn arms woody with Israel, an effort advocates accidental volition acceptable a precedent successful legislature efforts to halt weapons transfers to the US ally.

Senator Bernie Sanders – a progressive autarkic who caucuses with the Democrats – introduced the measures, known arsenic Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRDs), successful September and announced connected November 13 that helium volition bring them to the Senate level for a ballot this week.

The effort is improbable to walk successful the mostly pro-Israel chamber, but it has been garnering enactment from rights groups and a increasing fig of Democratic lawmakers.

Hassan El-Tayyab, an advocacy organiser astatine the Friends Committee connected National Legislation, a Quaker societal justness group, described the upcoming ballot arsenic “historic”.

He said the resolutions nonstop a connection to President Joe Biden, his successor-in-waiting Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the “status quo is unacceptable”.

“Just the information that this is happening is already sending that governmental awesome that it’s not concern arsenic usual,” El-Tayyab told Al Jazeera.

He added that legislature unit could change the behaviour of the US medication and its Israeli allies.

The letter

The expected ballot volition travel astir 2 weeks aft the Biden medication said it had not made an assessment that Israel is blocking humanitarian assistance to Gaza – a decision that contradicted the findings of humanitarian groups.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Pentagon main Lloyd Austin had sent a missive to Israeli leaders connected October 13, threatening “consequences” nether US instrumentality if Israel did not instrumentality circumstantial steps to amended the humanitarian concern successful Gaza wrong 30 days.

US instrumentality bans subject assistance to countries that artifact Washington-backed humanitarian aid.

Continuing US subject assistance to Israel aft the Blinken-Austin deadline – contempt warnings by United Nations experts that famine was already spreading crossed Gaza – highlighted Biden’s uncompromising enactment for Israel.

El-Tayyab said the administration’s “cynical” determination makes Congress’s oversight relation and Sanders’s solution each the much important.

“Congress isn’t a passive bystander. It’s a co-equal subdivision of authorities that shares work for what’s happening successful Gaza,” helium said.

In a connection announcing that helium intends to unit a ballot connected the resolution, Sanders said determination was “no longer immoderate doubt” that Israel is violating planetary and US law.

“As horrific arsenic the past twelvemonth has been, the existent concern is adjacent worse. Today, Israel continues to restrict the flow of food and medicine to hopeless people,” the legislator said.

“Tens of thousands of Palestinians look malnutrition and starvation. The measurement of assistance reaching Gazans is little than astatine immoderate clip successful the past year.”

What are JRDs?

Under US law, the enforcement subdivision tin authorise weapons income to overseas countries, but Congress has de facto veto powerfulness implicit the issue.

Lawmakers tin present a measurement to artifact a fixed merchantability – a JRD – nether the Arms Export Control Act. For the solution to go law, it would person to walk successful the Senate and the House of Representatives and beryllium signed by the president.

Since a JRD is astir by quality successful absorption to White House policy, presidents are likely to block the projected legislation, but Congress tin override the statesmanlike veto with a two-thirds bulk successful some chambers.

Sanders has introduced respective resolutions that would artifact the merchantability by the US of vessel and mortar rounds, nonstop onslaught munitions (JDAMs), F-15 combatant jets and different weapons.

Some of the JRDs blocking munition income to Israel are backed by Democratic Senators Peter Welch, Jeff Merkley and Brian Schatz.

Senator Elizabeth Warren besides voiced enactment for the effort, invoking the Biden administration’s nonaccomplishment to clasp Israel accountable for blocking humanitarian assistance to Gaza aft the Blinken-Austin letter.

“The nonaccomplishment by the Biden medication to follow US law and to suspend arms shipments is simply a sedate mistake that undermines American credibility worldwide,” Warren said successful a connection past week.

“If this medication volition not act, Congress indispensable measurement up to enforce US instrumentality and clasp the Netanyahu authorities accountable done a Joint Resolution of Disapproval.”

While Congress has voted antecedently connected amendments astir conditioning assistance to Israel, a Senate ballot connected a JRD concerning the US state would beryllium the archetypal of its kind.

Senator Bernie Sanders says the concern successful Gaza is ‘even worse’ than past twelvemonth [File: Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters]

Support for effort

More than 110 advocacy organisations, including Amnesty International USA, the Arab American Institute and Human Rights Watch, person issued a associated connection endorsing the JRDs.

“The associated resolutions of disapproval would suspend peculiar transfers of types of weapons that the Israeli authorities has utilized successful strikes that person killed thousands of civilians, including assistance workers and journalists, successful Gaza implicit the past year,” the groups said successful the statement.

Israel’s US-backed war connected Gaza has killed much than 43,800 Palestinians and brought the territory to the verge of starvation. The intensifying Israeli violative successful Lebanon has besides destroyed ample parts of the state and killed much than 3,480 people.

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) said Israel “should not person 1 dollar much successful US support” due to the fact that of its abuses.

“The Biden Administration has mislaid each credibility erstwhile it comes to its complicity and information successful Israel’s genocide, going truthful acold arsenic to wholly disregard US law,” the radical said successful a statement.

“It is agelong past clip for Congress to measurement successful and bash what President Biden, Secretary Blinken, and Secretary Austin volition not – enforce US instrumentality and accidental nary much weapons for Israeli genocide.”

The Council connected American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) echoed that statement.

“With undeniable impervious of Israel’s warfare crimes and the deliberate obstruction of humanitarian aid, our authorities continues to merchantability billions successful violative weapons to Israel,” CAIR’s authorities affairs director, Robert McCaw, said successful a statement.

“This unconscionable enactment for genocide perpetuates unit and suffering. With the Senate ballot adjacent week, we person a captious accidental to halt these arms sales.”

Pro-Israel response

Sanders’s propulsion whitethorn beryllium a long-shot effort, but pro-Israel groups person noticed it and are lobbying against the resolutions.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) urged its supporters to interaction their senators to cull the resolutions.

“Weakening Israel’s information arsenic it’s engaged successful a seven-front warfare against communal enemies is unsafe for America and the Jewish state,” the radical told supporters successful an email.

The Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI), a pro-Israel advocacy radical focused connected Democratic officials, issued a akin message.

“Senator Bernie Sanders and others program to enactment guardant authorities to artifact subject assistance to Israel adjacent week, adjacent arsenic Israel is nether attack, and the Biden Administration confirmed that Israel is adhering to the standards acceptable by the United States for humanitarian assistance into Gaza,” the DMFI said.

“We indispensable bash everything we tin to halt him.”

El-Tayyab dismissed specified criticism, underscoring that the legislative propulsion lone aims to artifact violative weapons to Israel.

“There is nary subject solution to the struggle successful Gaza – lone a diplomatic 1 that addresses basal causes of violence,” helium told Al Jazeera.

“Instead of sending much weapons, Congress and the medication should leverage subject assistance with Bibi [Netanyahu] and the Knesset to yet get them to judge a ceasefire woody successful Gaza and Lebanon. And that, I think, is simply a acold amended strategy to unafraid Israel’s defence and support Palestinian quality rights.”