Senate Democrats split over future military aid for Israel

The Senate on Wednesday evening shot down consideration of a bill that would have restricted U.S. military aid to Israel. The measure failed in a 27-70 vote.

The joint resolution, introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., would have provided congressional disapproval for the export of certain U.S. arms to Israel. Specifically, the bill would have restricted the sale of any firearms, parts, or components of weapons worth $1,000,000 or more.

It did not receive any Republican support and split Democrats, prompting more votes than past efforts to limit arm sales to Israel. Three Democrats—Sens. Ruben Gallego of Arizona, Mark Kelly of Arizona, and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan—did not vote.

Despite its defeat, the bill’s support indicates increasing hesitance among Democratic Senators to continue longstanding U.S. support for its ally amid the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. It also feeds broader speculation about Congress’ posture towards the U.S. involvement in overseas conflicts.

What’s leading the change in tone? The vote comes as disturbing images from Gaza circulate online, depicting starving children and cases of malnutrition. The scenes have prompted international criticisms of Israel. Canada, the United Kingdom, and France have announced they will recognize Palestine as a state later this year unless Israel takes steps towards improving the situation on the ground. Those countries are expected to make their recognition formal at the 2025 United Nations General Assembly in September.

President Donald Trump has been a staunch supporter of the Jewish state and during his first term formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. But he recently disagreed with the assertion of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the hunger crisis was an exaggerated talking point.

“That’s real starvation,” Trump told reporters on Monday. “You can’t fake that.”

Israel and its most vocal allies in Washington maintain that Hamas has undermined efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza’s civilian population. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., made that case in a Tuesday appearance on Meet the Press.

What’s the U.S. role here? Even apart from questions about the scope of Gaza’s humanitarian crisis, more Republicans—especially in the House of Representatives—believe U.S. interests are best served by scaling back aid abroad.

As with Wednesday’s vote, progressive Democrats concerned about the humanitarian picture and fiscally conservative Republicans worried about the overextension of the country’s resources have both found a rare area of overlap in skepticism towards U.S. commitments to Israel.

The last time a stand-alone aid package for Israel cleared the House of Representatives, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., joined with 194 Democrats against the package. That bill ultimately succeeded in a 226-196 vote.

Dig deeper: The last time Congress passed funding for its international allies, Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan, those packages narrowly succeeded. Read my reporting about how today’s concerns were present even then.