Warren says she supports Sanders' bid to block Israeli arms deal

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) is backing a bid by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) to block a massive arms transfer to Israel by the Biden administration, citing violations of US law in supporting the attack of Israel on Gaza.

Warren said in a statement Thursday that she supports a joint disapproval resolution by Sanders to block arms sales to Israel. Such resolutions allow Congress to block a foreign arms deal initiated by the executive branch.

The Massachusetts senator specifically referenced the Biden administration’s refusal this week to do so keep his own promise last month to withhold weapons from Israel if it did not comply within 30 days with a US request to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza. On Tuesday, the end of the 30-day period, the administration said it has not ruled that Israel is violating US law, despite the fact that Israel has not only failed to comply with the aid blockade in recent weeks but has also worsened it.

“Thirty days later, the Biden administration acknowledged that Israel’s actions had not significantly expanded food, water and basic needs for desperate Palestinian civilians,” Warren said in a statement. “Despite Netanyahu’s inability to meet the United States’ demands, the Biden administration has taken no action to limit the flow of offensive weapons.”

“The Biden administration’s failure to follow U.S. law and suspend arms shipments is a serious mistake that undermines U.S. credibility worldwide. “If this administration does not act, Congress must take action to enforce U.S. law and hold the Netanyahu government accountable through a joint resolution of censure,” the senator continued.

Sanders announced On Wednesday, he will put forward his joint censure resolutions aimed at blocking $20 billion of the Biden administration’s planned arms transfers to Israel, for a vote in the Senate next week.

Warren has not specified which censure resolutions she supports. Lawmakers often specify that they oppose “offensive” arms transfers to Israel but support “defensive” weapons — although proponents have long argued that there is no practical difference when “defensive” weapons, such as supplies for Israel’s Iron Dome, merely give Israel leeway . to attack countries without fear of damage from retaliation.

Sanders has produced a total of six resolutionseach focused on a different part of sales. Several of these, focusing on tank rounds, JDAMs, JDAM receivers, and mortar rounds, were co-introduced by Senators Peter Welch (D-Vermont) and Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), but Sanders was the only one to introduce the bulk of sales. , involving $18.8 billion worth of fighter jets and upgrades to Israel’s arsenal of F-15s. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) has done just that joined the resolution concerning blocking the transfer of tank rounds.

“There is no longer any doubt that Netanyahu’s extremist government is in clear violation of American and international law as it wages a barbaric war against the Palestinian people in Gaza,” Sanders said. “The United States cannot continue to be complicit in this war by providing more military aid and weapons to Netanyahu’s government. Congress must take action to block these arms sales.”

Sanders says the sales would violate the Foreign Assistance Act, which prohibits the U.S. from sending weapons to entities that prevent the delivery of U.S. humanitarian aid. Experts, advocates And legislators have repeatedly said the administration is violating international and domestic law by sending weapons to Israel, but U.S. officials lied instead and provided cover for Israel’s genocidal carnage to continue fueling the weapons pipeline.

Stopping the flow of weapons into Israel from the US, Israel’s largest foreign military backer, is one of the few ways to end the genocide in Gaza and Israeli aggression in Lebanon and beyond, advocates have long said.

Warren’s statement came after a group of 95 organizations in Massachusetts sent a letter to Warren and Senator Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) asking them to vote in favor of the resolutions.

“These resolutions would block the transfer of the types of weapons that Israel has used in attacks that have killed thousands of civilians, including aid workers and journalists, in Gaza over the past year,” the letter said.

This also included a group of 95 based in New York on Wednesday organizations have written a letter to New York Senators Kristen Gillibrand (D) and Chuck Schumer (D) urging them to support Sanders’ efforts. The letter-writing campaign was led by the respective state chapters of the National Iranian American Council.

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