Bernie Sanders bids to block $20B in US arms sales to Israel

Washington (Quds News Network)- US Senator Bernie Sanders is preparing several resolutions that would halt more than $20 billion in U.S. arms sales to Israel, as Israel’s ongoing genocide war on Gaza grinds toward a second year.

In a letter to Senate colleagues on Wednesday, Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said he intended to file Joint Resolutions of Disapproval next week.

The U.S. Arms Export Control Act gives Congress the right to stop a major foreign weapons sale by passing a resolution of disapproval.

In his statement, Sanders noted that the Biden administration last month approved arms sales to Israel totaling more than $20 billion that included systems tied to tens of thousands of civilian deaths in Gaza. He said exporting such weapons would violate human rights provisions in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and Arms Export Control Act.

Sanders added the U.S. cannot be “complicit in this humanitarian disaster.”

“Much of this carnage in Gaza has been carried out with U.S.-provided military equipment,” Sanders wrote.

“Providing more offensive weapons to continue this disastrous war would violate U.S. and international law.”

While it’s doubtful the politically split Senate would pass the measures, the move is designed to send a message to the Netanyahu regime that its war effort is eroding the U.S.’s longtime bipartisan support for Israel. Sanders said he is working with other colleagues on the measures and would have some backing for his proposal.

Sanders’ resolutions would halt sales of missile systems, tank rounds and other weaponry, some that has been singled out for causing some of the most severe destruction in Gaza, and new fighter jets. Congress had temporarily stalled some arms sales to Israel earlier this year, as lawmakers have tried to warn against the rising death toll in Gaza.

Under the Senate rules, once Sanders introduces the resolutions next week, he can force a vote almost instantly for consideration. The measures are being proposed as a joint resolution of disapproval of the arms sales, which is a mechanism that allows congressional oversight of foreign affairs.