Senate Proposal To Restrict Arms Sales To Israel Divides Illinois Democratic Delegation

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“I believe passionately that Israel has not only the right to exist, but the right to defend itself in the dangerous neighborhood of the Middle East. The terrorist attack of October 7 was truly horrific and the Hamas terrorist group, which is dedicated to the destruction of Israel, should be eliminated. I have consistently voted for military assistance to Israel throughout my congressional career to protect it from the threats which it faces on a daily basis,” Durbin said in a statement.

“I voted today to suspend three specific arms sales to Israel. My reason is very straightforward. It is reported that more than 43,000 Palestinians have died in the conflict in Gaza—60 percent of them have been women, children, and elderly. The denial of humanitarian aid to Gaza threatens the lives of so many more—particularly children facing starvation.”

Durbin last year became the first senator to call for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Earlier this year, he filed an amendment to strip Israel of its arms transfer oversight waiver and later supported a proposal to ensure U.S. weapons are used in compliance with U.S. and international law.

“This war must end. Israel’s strategy of deadly attacks on and near civilian populations must end as well,” he added. “The United States should not be sending arms and ammunition that continue to take the lives of innocent people. It is time for real humanitarian aid to reach the Palestinian people. I will stand by Israel, but I will not support the devastation of Gaza and the deaths of thousands of innocent Palestinians.”

During Wednesday’s brief debate on Sanders’ doomed resolutions, their sponsor said they were supported by a strong majority of Americans, including more than 60 percent of Jewish people.

“These resolutions come down to a few basic points,” Sanders said. “First of all, should the U.S. Government obey the law? And the law is very clear that we as a government cannot fund other countries that are in violation of international human rights or that are blocking humanitarian aid. Now, somebody here wants to come down and say, ‘I don’t like that law. The U.S. Government should give money to any government it wants no matter what they do, no matter how atrocious their behavior is,’ come down and change the law, but that ain’t the law now.”

Sanders said the existing law is based on the moral principle that countries the U.S. weapons sells weapons to should not use them to violate international law and block humanitarian aid.

“And that is precisely what Israel is doing,” Sanders said. “That is not me who says that; that is what virtually every humanitarian organization working in Gaza right now says. So if you believe we should obey the law, you have to vote for these resolutions.”

Sen. Ben Cardin, a Maryland Democrat who voted against the resolution, said the U.S. and Israel have a special and mutually beneficial relationship based on shared values, and part of that relationship involved the supply of weapons.

“The spotlight should be on Hamas. Why are we in this conflict? Oct. 7 — brutal attack by Hamas. We don’t hear a lot of talk about that,” Cardin said.

“We talk about the release of the hostages — they never should have been taken,” he said. “Where is the outrage in the international community and where is the outrage here about Hamas holding hostages, some of whom are Americans? That is where the outrage should be. Hamas uses human shields. Yes, we bereave the loss of innocent life, but Hamas makes it much more likely that there are going to be the casualties of innocent life. They embedded themselves in hospitals and universities and make it so much more difficult for Israel to conduct a military campaign.”

Duckworth did not debate the matter on the Senate floor. But last week, in a cable news interview, she said she believes the Israeli has committed war crimes in Gaza but remained committed to arming it.

“Frankly, I think that Prime Minister Netanyahu has committed some war crimes on some of the actions that he’s taken inside Gaza,” Duckworth said. “Now let me tell you that I truly, fully support Israel’s right to defend herself, and I will continue to provide weapons of self-defense, weapons to Israel, but we have to have a real accounting of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.”

In the interview, Duckworth also said she was scared that that President-Elect Donald Trump’s nominee for ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, was not “someone who is going to hold Netanyahu to account.”

The Senate votes on the three resolutions, which were defeated 79-18, 78-19, and 80-17 respectively, came just a day before the International Criminal Court, or ICC, issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

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Karine Jean-Pierre, spokesperson for President Joe Biden, said members of the administration are discussing its response to the ruling with Israel and other allies.

“We remain deeply concerned by the prosecutors rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision,” Jean-Pierre said. “We have been clear that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over this matter. You’ve heard us say this before. Whatever this prosecutor might imply, there’s no evidence, none, between Israel and Hamas. There’s just none.”

Since cross-border attacks by Hamas killed more than 1,200 people in Israel and resulted in the abduction of more than 250 others in October 2023, Gaza’s Health Ministry reports that over 44,000 people have died in the Gaza Strip.

Israel’s military has stated that over 17,000 of those killed were militants, while aid organizations have warned of mass starvation and disease among the 90 percent of Gaza’s population displaced by the conflict.

The ICC also issued a warrant for Mohammed Deif, head of Hamas’ armed wing, finding reasonable grounds to believe he was involved in murder, rape, torture and hostage-taking in the Oct. 7 attacks. Its chief prosecutor withdrew requests for warrants for Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, two senior Hamas figures who have both since been killed.

Schakowsky, the chief deputy whip, and a group of fellow progressive House Democrats, which included Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Rep. Joaquin Castro of San Antonio and California Rep. Barbara Lee, said in a joint statement that they would have supported Sanders’ resolutions if brought to a vote in the House.

“The United States must use all available leverage, including the suspension of offensive weapons transfers, to de-escalate the violence and protect the lives of hostages, including Americans, Palestinian civilians, and all those impacted by the ongoing conflict,” they wrote.

The statement emphasized that these measures would not affect defensive systems such as the Iron Dome. Pointing to reports by human rights organizations and statements from the Biden administration criticizing Israel’s use of U.S.-provided weaponry in ways that allegedly violate international humanitarian law and the U.S.’s own Foreign Assistance Act.

“Despite this clear lack of progress, no meaningful action has been taken by the Biden Administration to promote Israeli compliance with stated U.S. policy goals,” said Schakowsky and the other House supporters of the Sanders resolution.

“President-elect Trump’s return to the White House will only embolden Netanyahu and his far-right ministers,” according to Schakowsky’s statement. “A vote for the joint resolutions of disapproval is a vote to politically restrain the Netanyahu government from any forthcoming efforts to formally annex the West Bank and settle parts of Gaza.”

With the incoming second Trump administration expected to adopt an even more hardline stance in support of Netanyahu’s government, the already slim prospects of conditioning U.S. aid to the Israeli military are unlikely to improve.

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