By Mike Wagenheim
Several Democratic senators told JNS on Wednesday night, Nov. 20, that the significant number of their Senate colleagues who voted for an Israeli arms embargo weren’t representative of the party. Republicans in the upper chamber said the figure — up to 19 on one measure — represented the Democrats’ abandonment of a key ally. The resolutions were put forth by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and would have banned the transfer of certain categories of weapons to Israel.
For Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), “This is not a party issue. This is something that should be considered on the merits, and I’ve made my decision.”
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) said that his colleagues who sided with Sanders were “entitled to do that. If they want to go down in flames, then that’s their choice.”
Asked whether the large number of Democrats who voted against Israel would impact the ability of the Senate to act in a bipartisan fashion on Israel-related issues under the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, Fetterman demurred.
“It’s very clear that I only control my vote. But I’ve always stood with Israel,” said the progressive freshman, who has become among the Senate’s most outspoken backers of the Jewish state. “The administration will change, but my commitment to Israel won’t.”
But Republicans said it was evident that commitment didn’t extend through the party, even as President Joe Biden and his administration attempted to whip senators on the fence to vote down the resolutions.
But Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) laid blame on Biden for the position Israel currently faces. “We went from peace, from Arabs and Israelis sitting down and finding common ground, to where we are now — the worst war in the Middle East in 50 years, following the worst mass murder of Jews in a single day since the Holocaust,” he said.
“This is the direct fruit of a weak commander in chief in America and of an asinine foreign policy that sends over $100 billion to [Iranian] Ayatollah [Ali] Khamenei. Iran provides 90% of the funding for Hamas, and it provides 90% of the funding for Hezbollah,” said Cruz. “Unfortunately, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have sent the money to Iran that have paid for this war, and have paid for these atrocities.”
Cruz said that when he was first elected to the Senate 12 years ago, “there was a real bipartisan coalition in America in support of Israel.” Now, he claims, “Democrats . . . range from supporting the radicals in their party to being simply afraid to cross them.”
Sen. Josh Hawley (R- Mo.) expressed hope that a sense of bipartisanship could return.
“The good news is that on the one hand, 18 is not a really big number, so I’d hope there’ll be a lot of chances to work across the aisle,” said Hawley of the number of Democrats who voted in favor of Sanders’ first resolution. “On the other hand, 18? I don’t understand my Democratic colleagues’ position on this. To me this is crazy. Why wouldn’t we be saying Israel has the right to defend itself and we’re proud to stand with our ally? To me, this is no debate at all.”
Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), who is set to retake the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when Republicans take hold of the Senate in January, said he was confident that the bipartisan nature of the US-Israel relationship would hold, and that Trumps’ pro-Israel policies would pull Democrats in, rather than lead to resistance.
“We’ve always had strong, strong bipartisan support for Israel. That’s not going to change in the next Trump administration,” he said.
Asked whether Democrats siding with Sanders were doing so in good faith on the issue, Risch refused to speak for them.
“I don’t want to answer a question like that. You’d need to talk to them about why they’re doing what they’re doing,” he said. “These speeches ought to be given about the bad things that Hamas has done, and not trying to blame this on Israel. Everything that has happened is the result of that attack which took place on Oct. 7, which lies right at the feet, and right in the hands of Hamas.”
His counterpart, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Ben Cardin of Maryland, concurred, saying he doesn’t think the effort by Sanders is “serving any purpose. I think it’s a mistake to have this vote. I think it’s the wrong vehicle for the proponents to get their message out. I don’t think this has to do with humanitarian assistance at all.”
While saying he wasn’t surprised by the number of Democrats siding with Sanders, Cardin was confident that the issue of Israel wouldn’t divide the party.
“I think we’ll get through this,” said Cardin.
