The United States Senate has rejected a resolution seeking to impose conditions on security assistance to Israel.
Senators overwhelmingly voted against the motion late on Tuesday. It would have demanded that security aid to Israel be frozen unless the Department of State produces a report within 30 days examining whether Israel has committed human rights violations in its campaign in Gaza.
Seventy-two senators voted to set the resolution aside, versus 11 who backed it, easily clearing the simple majority needed to kill the resolution in the 100-member chamber.
The vote was forced by Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats. While the resolution was handily defeated, it reflected growing concern among some of President Joe Biden’s fellow Democrats, especially on the left, over the continued supply of US weapons to Israel despite the Gaza conflict’s heavy toll on Palestinian civilians.
“We must ensure that US aid is being used in accordance with human rights and our own laws,” Sanders said in a speech urging support for the resolution. He lamented that the Senate has failed to consider any measure looking at the war’s effect on civilians.
The White House had said it opposed the resolution, which could have paved the way towards the imposition of conditions on security assistance to Israel.
Senators who opposed the measure said it sent the wrong message at a time when Israel has said it was shifting to a more targeted campaign.
