The US Senate has rejected two resolutions by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to block arms sales to Israel.
The two resolutions to block US sales of bulldozers and bombs to Israel were opposed by all Republicans and rejected 40-59 and 36-63. Sanders has repeatedly forced votes on the issue to put pressure on his colleagues, both Democrats and Republicans, to oppose Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s regime. Similar resolutions forced by Sanders in 2024 and 2025 were also rejected.
In a move that signals growing discontent in the party with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the wars in Gaza and Iran, more than thirty-six Democrats supported an effort by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders to block arms sales to Israel.
While similar resolutions forced by Sanders in 2024 and 2025 were also rejected, the number of Democrats voting with the Vermont Independent has more than doubled in less than two years amid Israeli campaigns in Gaza, Iran and Lebanon and a stepped-up campaign by party activists who have increasingly seen support for Israel as a litmus test for support.
Sanders asserted that it shows Democrats are losing interest in supporting Israel’s wars. “It’s clear that Democrats are beginning to listen to the average American who is sick and tired of spending billions of dollars to support Netanyahu’s horrific wars when people in this country can’t afford housing or health care,” Sanders said after the vote.
Arizona Senator, Mark Kelly, voted in support of the two resolutions after opposing some of Sanders’ previous efforts. In a speech just before the vote, Kelly said that “the reckless decisions being made by Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump” led him to his decision, which he said he did not take lightly.
“Under Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government, we’ve seen an expanded war in Lebanon that is putting innocent Lebanese civilians at risk, and ongoing violence against Palestinians and their homes being demolished in the West Bank. All of this has undermined the path forward for peace.”
Mark Kelly
Among the Democrats voting against the resolutions were Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Nearly 100 protesters were arrested during a demonstration on Monday calling on the two New York Senators to vote in favor of Sanders’ two measures.
Led by the antiwar group Jewish Voice for Peace, the crowd of hundreds initially attempted to stage a sit-in inside the Senators’ offices as they said they were abetting Israel’s intensifying attacks in Lebanon and the US-Israeli war on Iran.
However, they were blocked and many of the protesters were arrested. The group’s Communications Director, Sonya Meyerson-Knox, said, “The majority of Americans and New Yorkers want a resolution to what the Israeli government is doing.”
Resolution To End Iran War Also Rejected
Earlier, Democrats supported a resolution earlier to halt President Donald Trump’s war in Iran. However that was also rejected, 47-52.
The Republican-led Senate rejected the latest Democratic attempt to halt Trump’s war in Iran, turning aside a resolution that would require the US to withdraw forces from the conflict until Congress authorizes further action.
Under the War Powers Act of 1973, Congress must declare war or authorize use of force within 60 days of its start — a deadline that will arrive at the end of this month. The law provides for a potential 30-day extension of that deadline, but lawmakers have made clear that they want the administration to soon lay out a plan for the end of the conflict.
The 47-52 vote was the fourth time this year that the Senate has voted to cede its war powers to the President in a conflict that Democrats say is illegal and unjustified. Republicans, on the other hand, say they will keep faith in Trump’s wartime leadership, for now, citing Iran’s nuclear capabilities, the potential for ongoing talks and the high stakes of withdrawal.
Republicans also said the vote could hurt US efforts in the Iran war. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, said the resolutions could embolden Iran and “send the message that the US is prepared to leave our ally Israel vulnerable.” “They will not help the United States of America,” Risch said ahead of the vote.
Senator Chris Coons, a Democrat who voted against Sanders’ Israel resolutions, said that he voted to end the Iran war but did not want to abandon Israel. “My votes should be taken neither as an endorsement of the actions of the Netanyahu government nor as an abandonment of the state of Israel, the Jewish people, or the US-Israel relationship,” Coons said in a statement after the vote.
Nonetheless, Democrats have vowed to force votes on the Senate floor as long as the war continues.
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