A record number of Senate Democrats, more than half the caucus, voted in favor of two resolutions to block U.S. military sales to Israel on Wednesday night. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the resolutions ultimately failed, the vote demonstrated how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2002<\/u><\/a>has fractured historically bipartisan support in Congress over the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip in Israel\u2019s war against Hamas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The resolutions, sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders\u2002<\/u><\/a>(I-Vt), failed in the face of all Republicans voting against the measure and 20 Democrats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Senators voted 27 in favor and 70 to defeat Sanders\u2019 resolution (S.J.Res.34), which sought to block more than $675 million in weapons sales to Israel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A second resolution (S.J.Res. 41) garnered 24 in favor, and 73 against. The resolution sought to prohibit the sale of tens of thousands of fully automatic assault rifles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhatever happens tonight, history will condemn those of us who failed to act in the face of these horrors,\u201d Sanders said ahead of the vote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It was the third time Sanders put senators on record over their military support for Israel. An April vote garnered\u2002<\/u><\/a>15 Democratic Senators. A vote in November<\/u><\/a> 2024 garnered 18 Democratic senators. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Democrats framed their opposition to military aid to Israel as a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and not as opposition to Israel as a whole. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Voting yes for the first time included Sen. Patty Murray\u2002<\/u><\/a>(D-Wash.), the vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis legislative tool is not perfect, but frankly, it is time to say enough to the suffering of innocent young children and families,\u201d she said in a statement explaining her vote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs a longtime friend and supporter of Israel, I am voting yes to send a message: the Netanyahu government cannot continue with this strategy. Netanyahu has prolonged this war at every turn to stay in power.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sen. Jeanne Shaheen\u2002<\/u><\/a>(D-N.H.), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also voted yes. While she voted in favor of Sanders\u2019 November resolution, she voted against his April resolution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI will continue to stand up for the existence of Israel and the safety of its citizens. I will also continue to support Israel\u2019s right to defend itself, but I cannot in good conscience vote in support of weapons until the human anguish in Gaza comes to an end,\u201d she said in a statement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The criticism against Netanyahu matches recent polling on Americans\u2019 attitudes toward the Israeli leader. A Gallup poll taken in early July recorded that a majority of Americans disapprove of Netanyahu, at 52 percent, his highest unfavorable rating since 1997.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The poll diverged along party lines. Two-thirds of Republicans, 67 percent, have a favorable view of Netanyahu, compared to 19 percent<\/u><\/a> of independents and nine percent of Democrats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those numbers largely reflected Americans\u2019 attitudes towards Israel\u2019s military action. Support reached an all-time low, with 32 percent of Americans supportive of the war. Among Democrats, there\u2019s only eight percent support for Israel\u2019s military action, although a large majority of Republicans support the war at 71 percent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Senate vote comes as international outrage is peaking against Israel for the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, where food crisis experts warned earlier this week that the \u201cworst-case scenario\u201d of famine is occurring, and as deaths from starvation begin to tick up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Israel has started allowing more food and humanitarian assistance into the strip after a months-long blockade, the country is becoming increasingly isolated over Netanyahu\u2019s failure to signal an endpoint for the war and images of emaciated children and the widespread death in the strip. <\/p>\n\n\n\n