Senate Kills Measure to Scrutinize Israeli Human Rights Record as Condition for Aid
Sen. Bernie Sanders forced a vote on the resolution, which would have opened the door for Congress to freeze U.S. aid to Israel.
Prem Thakker January 16 2024, 8:54 p.m.
On Tuesday, the Senate voted down a resolution that would have set the stage for Congress to place conditions on U.S. military aid to Israel ā quashing what has so far been the most serious effort on Capitol Hill to hold the U.S. ally to account for its brutal assault on Gaza.
Introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in December, the resolution would have required the State Department to submit a report to Congress about allegations of Israel committing human rights violations, and whether and how the U.S. played a role and responded to such acts. If the bill had passed and the State Department failed to submit the report within 30 days, U.S. aid to Israel would have been frozen. If the State Department had submitted a report to Congress, however, U.S. aid to Israel could have come to a vote, giving Congress the option to condition, restrict, or terminate security assistance to Israel (or to do nothing at all). Such votes would have required only a simple majority for passage.
When it came to a vote Tuesday evening, the Senate voted 72-11 to table the resolution, effectively killing it.
āItās frankly historic that this vote took place at all,ā said Andrew OāNeill, the legislative director for the political advocacy group Indivisible. āThe number of senators willing to take a vote like this even weeks ago, on the face of it, would have been zero.ā DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Read our complete coverage Israelās War on Gaza
Israel receives billions of dollars per year in U.S. aid, making it the largest recipient of American security assistance in the world. In the wake of Hamasās October 7 attack on Israel, President Joe Biden asked Congress to approve an additional $14 billion in aid to the country, whose retaliatory war on Gaza has killed more than 24,000 Palestinians.
Sandersās resolution was based on the Foreign Assistance Act, which prohibits the American government from providing security assistance to any government āwhich engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.ā Section 502BĀ© of the law empowers Congress to request information on a countryās human rights practices, which Sanders took advantage of to force this vote.
āThe Senators who lent their support to this resolution did so in spite of enormous political pressure,ā OāNeill said, noting that, for decades, there has been a bipartisan status quo of not scrutinizing assistance to Israel. āThe 502B process had never been used before, and now that tool is on the table. These are lonely votes, but votes that can be the start of something bigger.ā
The votes in support for Sandersās resolution came almost entirely from Democratic senators: Laphonza Butler of California, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Ben Ray LujĆ”n of New Mexico, Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, and Peter Welch of Vermont. Rand Paul was the only Republican to vote against tabling the resolution.
Van Hollen told The Intercept that itās important for the Senate to get the information required by the proposed report. āThatās important for transparency and I think taxpayers have a right to know how their funds are being used.ā
Speaking with reporters ahead of the vote, Warren said, āPrime Minister Netanyahu needs to understand that he does not get a blank check from the United States Congress.ā
She continued: āThe Senate has had a role in overseeing our military involvement overseas running back to the drafting of the Constitution. We have a responsibility to stand up now and say that given how Netanyahu and his right-wing war cabinet have prosecuted this war, we have serious questions that we are obligated to ask before we go further.ā Most Read OpenAI Quietly Deletes Ban on Using ChatGPT for āMilitary and Warfareā Sam Biddle At The Hague, Israel Mounted a Defense Based in an Alternate Reality Jeremy Scahill In Genocide Case Against Israel at The Hague, the U.S. Is the Unnamed Co-Conspirator Jeremy Scahill
Some Democratic senators who voted to kill the resolution told The Intercept they were concerned about Israeli human rights abuses, but they did not think Sandersās proposal was the way to address them. Others, mostly Republicans, deflected from questions about Israelās conduct during the war.
Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., said he was opposed to the resolution because the timeline for potential congressional action would have conflicted with the aims of Israelās war. āIt doesnāt make a lot of sense to be conditioning a military campaign engaged in by an ally,ā he said. He added that āthereās no question if there are allegations, they will be the subject of scrutiny and review,ā but said he doesnāt think the resolution is the right approach.
Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., explained his opposition to the resolution by pointing out that 502BĀ© has never been used in its 50-year history, and that he prefers a measureOpens in a new tab introduced by Van Hollen. That amendment would require weapons received by any country under Bidenās proposal for supplemental aid to Israel and Ukraine to be used in accordance with U.S. law, international humanitarian law, and the law of armed conflict.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who has a record of scrutinizing human rights abuses by U.S. allies, voted against the resolution. He told The Intercept that he supports Israelās right to defend itself and that he has deep reservations about the way it has conducted its campaign, but he doesnāt support measures āpotentially designed to cut off funding for Israel.ā The resolution, he said, is a vehicle toward completely cutting off aid to Israel. āI donāt think thatās the right move for Congress at this time,ā he said.
Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., told The Intercept that he is āsensitiveā to the allegations of human rights abuses by Israel, and that he understands Sandersās sensitivity to ātrying to keep the collateral damage down, and I think everybody would be for that.ā Still, he said, he opposed the resolution ābecause I think it then draws attention away from how it started, and how it has to be litigated, and thatās not easy,ā referring to Hamasās attack on October 7 and Israelās stated aim of rooting out the organization.
Asked if he thought Israel was doing enough to mitigate civilian casualties, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told The Intercept that āthey need to kill every Hamas member and anybody that dies in Gaza is a result of Hamas.ā He voted against the resolution.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., referred to Hamasās attack on Israel as he explained his opposition to the resolution. āTo give them respite would be to allow them to do it again,ā he told The Intercept. When asked whether Israel is doing enough to protect civilians, Cassidy repeated a frequent Israeli government talking point about Hamas, saying that āwhen you build your tunnels with your commanders beneath mosques, hospitals, and schools, then you have created an environment where itās difficult to prevent civilian injury.ā
On his way to vote against the resolution, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, told The Intercept that he has been consistent with his position on the issue. āOf course it does,ā he said when asked if heās concerned about the number of casualties in Gaza. Asked if Israel is doing enough to mitigate the casualties, he responded simply: āGood talking to you,ā as the Senate elevator doors closed.
Surprising to see a republican there
Donāt worry, itās Rand Paul. His vote falls squarely under āstopped clockā territory.
Heās a contrarian at heart and an absolute bastard separate from him being republican, donāt read into it
Every once in a while, the Libertarians of the world stand up and meekly say āheyā¦stop thatā¦stop that genocideā¦they just want to be free. guys?ā
37 Democratic Senators are on record as being to the right of Rand Paul on genocide.
He wants to stop all government spending; he doesnāt give a shit about whatās happening.