WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today announced his intention to next week file Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRD) that would block the sale of offensive U.S. weaponry to Israel. The JRD is the only mechanism available to Congress to prevent an arms sale from advancing.

In August, the Biden Administration approved a series of arms sales to Israel totaling more than $20 billion. The sales include several systems that are directly tied to tens of thousands of civilian deaths in Gaza. The export of these weapons would clearly violate the criteria laid out in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Arms Export Control Act (AECA).

“On October 7, 2023, Hamas waged a terrorist attack against Israel, killing 1,200 innocent people and taking over 240 hostages,” said Sanders. “Israel, of course, had the right to defend itself against Hamas. It did not, however, have the right to wage an all-out war against the Palestinian people, which is what Prime Minister Netanyahu’s extremist government has done. The result: More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 95,000 injured – 60 percent of whom are women, children, or elderly people. Further, as a result of Israel’s blocking of humanitarian aid into Gaza, many thousands of children there face malnutrition and even starvation.”

“Sadly, and illegally, much of the carnage in Gaza has been carried out with U.S.-provided military equipment,” Sanders continued. “Providing more offensive weapons to continue this disastrous war would violate U.S. and international law. The sales would reward Netanyahu’s extremist government, even as it continues to cause massive destruction in Gaza, undermine the prospects of a ceasefire deal that would secure the release of the hostages, and advance its effort to illegally annex the West Bank. Congress must act to save lives, uphold U.S. and international law, and stand up for U.S. interests. We must end our complicity in Israel’s illegal and indiscriminate military campaign, which has caused mass civilian death and suffering.”

The Foreign Assistance Act and the AECA require that arms transfers must be consistent with internationally-recognized human rights, advance U.S. foreign policy interests, and avoid the association of the United States with any human rights violations. These sales clearly fall short on each measure. Israel is also in clear violation of Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act, which states that:

“No assistance shall be furnished … to any country when it is made known to the President that the government of such country prohibits or otherwise restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance.”

This is U.S. law, applying to both government-to-government foreign military sales (FMS) of major defense articles and services as well as the issuance of export licenses for the direct commercial sales (DCS) of major defense articles and services from private companies.

The noticed sales include:

• Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMs ($262 million)
• 120mm tank rounds ($774.1 million)
• 120mm high explosive mortar rounds ($61.1 million)
• Medium Tactical Vehicles ($583.1 million)
• Up to fifty new F-15IA multi-role fighter aircraft, as well as upgrades to twenty-five current Israeli F-15s, plus additional equipment ($18.82 billion)

Reliable human rights monitors have rigorously documented numerous incidents involving these systems leading to unacceptable civilian death and harm. The Administration’s own report pursuant to National Security Memorandum 20 (NSM-20) concluded that these weapons “have been used by Israeli security forces since October 7 in instances inconsistent with its IHL [international humanitarian law] obligations or with established best practices for mitigating civilian harm.”

Blocking these sales would be in keeping with actions taken by the international community and some of our closest allies. The United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada, Belgium, and the Netherlands have all acted in recent months to stop or restrict offensive arms deliveries due to the high risk they could be used in violation of international law. The United Nations bodies and numerous humanitarian organizations have also called for an end to the arms shipments fueling the conflict.

Read the fact sheet, here.