Senate rejects bid to halt sale of bombs and rifles to Israel, but Democratic opposition grows
The Senate rejected an effort Wednesday from Sen. Bernie Sanders to block the sale of U.S. bombs and firearms to Israel, though the vote showed a growing number of Democrats opposed to the arms sales amid widespread hunger and suffering in Gaza.
By STEPHEN GROVES
Updated 11:01 PM EDT, July 30, 2025
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate rejected an effort Wednesday from Sen. Bernie Sanders to block the sale of U.S. bombs and firearms to Israel, though the vote showed a growing number of Democrats opposed to the arms sales amid widespread hunger and suffering in Gaza.
Sanders, an independent from Vermont, has repeatedly tried to block the sale of offensive weapons to Israel over the last year. The resolutions before the Senate on Tuesday would have stopped the sale of $675 million in bombs as well as shipments of 20,000 automatic assault rifles to Israel.
They again failed to gain passage, but 27 Democrats — more than half the caucus — voted for the resolution that applied to assault rifles, and 24 voted for the resolution that applied to bomb sales. It was more than any of Sanders’ previous efforts, which at a high mark in November last year gained 18 votes from Democrats.
https://apnews.com/article/bernie-sanders-israeli-weapons-sale-democrats-gaza-58945751c7f88c1434a4be86e11af167
