Bernie Sanders Forces Vote to FREEZE Aid to Israel: Jewish Senator Wants to Demand Biden Administration to Investigate Possible Alleged War Crimes by Israel in Gaza

Senator Bernie Sanders will force a full Senate vote on a resolution that would force the US to investigate alleged Israeli war crimes and withhold aid if they are found to be justified.

On the heels of Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, US lawmakers were on the same page in supporting the Jewish state’s aggressive response in Gaza. But as the months pass and the Palestinian civilian death toll rises, liberal Democrats are starting to sour on President Benjamin Netanyahu’s military campaign and the push for more US aid to finance the bloody offensive.

The resolution is expected to fail during Tuesday night’s vote as Republicans continue to support Israel broadly and without conditions. But it will put on full display the rift between Democrats over the conflict in the Middle East.

The resolution would freeze all U.S. security assistance to Israel unless the State Department produces a report within 30 days examining whether the country committed human rights abuses during the war.

In a statement earlier this month, Sanders, who is Jewish himself, called the Gaza offensive an “illegal and immoral war against the Palestinian people.”

In October, President Biden requested $14 billion in security aid for Israel, which is now stalled in Congress. Biden and top congressional leaders will meet at the White House on Wednesday to discuss a package that would include aid to Israel and Ukraine and border security measures.

Much of the delay has to do with the much larger additional request of $61 billion for Ukraine, which is opposed by hardline conservatives.

The rising death toll in Gaza – 24,000 according to the Gaza Health Ministry – coupled with Israeli roadblocks to aid for trapped civilians have led to widespread, near-constant protests in the US. On Tuesday, 130 people were arrested on Capitol Hill during a pro-Palestinian demonstration. .

It has also led to charges of genocide at the International Court of Justice and a subtle push by the Biden administration to halt the bombing campaign. Earlier this month, Israel said it would soon move to more targeted military operations in Gaza.

Congress has not invoked the human rights authority that Sanders uses in his resolution since 1976.

Pro-Israel lobbyists have aggressively campaigned against the measure and the Biden administration has pushed back against the conditions for aid, arguing that Sanders’ resolution is ill-timed and unnecessary.

“It’s frankly unworkable,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Sunday.

Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, January 16, 2024

A donkey cart drives past a collapsed building in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza Strip on January 16, 2024

A view of the destroyed home of the Palestinian al-Huli family due to the Israeli attack as civilians inspect the damage in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on January 16, 2024

“The Israelis have indicated that they are preparing to transition their operations to a much lower intensity. And we believe the transition will be beneficial, both in terms of reducing civilian casualties and increasing humanitarian assistance.”

Sanders said on CNN that he “strongly disagrees” with Kirby, noting that two-thirds of the deaths in Gaza are women and children, that 70 percent of the region’s homes have been razed, and that the most of the 2.3 million people killed in Gaza who live there have been displaced.

He called the bombing of Gaza “worse than what took place in Dresden in a two-year period,” referring to the American and British bombing of Dresden, Germany during World War II.

“You have no right to wage war against an entire people,” Sanders said.