Bernie Sanders announces vote to block US arms sales to Israel
The US senator said he plans to bring to the floor of the Senate next week a number of resolutions to “block certain offensive weapons sales to Israel”.
“There is no longer any doubt that Netanyahu’s extremist government is in clear violation of US and international law as it wages a barbaric war against the Palestinian people in Gaza,” Sanders said in a statement on X.
“This war has been conducted almost entirely with American weapons and $18 billion in US taxpayer dollars. Israel has dropped US-provided 2,000 pound bombs into crowded neighbourhoods, killed hundreds of civilians to take out a handful of Hamas fighters, and made little effort to distinguish between civilians and combatants. These actions are immoral and illegal, he wrote.
Hopefully Bernie can get something through, come Januari chances are zero. Biden also better hurry up getting Ukraine stocked up and remove restrictions so they can actually properly defend themselves.
For Januari it's looking very grim
Where do Trump’s picks stand on Israel?
The President-elect has been announcing the names of people he plans to nominate for key positions in his administration and cabinet.
Here’s a look at where some of them stand on Israel:
- Marco Rubio, Trump’s pick for Secretary of State, has had a hawkish stance on Israel’s war on Gaza, telling an activist in 2023 that Hamas was “100 percent to blame” for the deaths of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
- Trump’s nominee for US Ambassador to the United Nations, Elise Stefanik, told Israel’s parliament in May US military aid to Israel should be unrestricted and has threatened to cut university funding over anti-war protests.
- Mike Huckabee, who Trump want as US ambassador to Israel, is an evangelical Christian who has called himself an “unapologetic, unreformed Zionist” and said “there’s really no such thing as a Palestinian.”
- Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s choice for director of national intelligence, has long railed against what she terms “radical Islam” and been associated with right-wing Hindu groups and pro-Israeli positions.
