Congress votes on Bernie’s bill to block U.S. arms for Israel

And today, the Senate will vote on a series of resolutions introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., that would block a $20 billion sale of new offensive weapons to Israel.

Under existing law, President Joe Biden is required to notify Congress of arms sales to any foreign government, opening a 30-day window for a “joint resolution of disapproval” to cancel them.

Sanders’s resolutions are an unprecedented opportunity to force members of Congress on the record, and activist energy is building — just yesterday, dozens were arrested at a Capitol Hill sit-in.

There’s just one problem: So far, most of the corporate media hasn’t taken these votes seriously. The New York Times didn’t even mention them until last night, when it dismissed them as “largely symbolic.”

The Intercept is one of the only newsrooms willing to tackle the bipartisan pro-Israel consensus in Washington — and to investigate the role of AIPAC in fueling it. But we urgently need your donation to continue this vital reporting. 

On October 13, the Biden administration issued a clear ultimatum to the Israeli government: Allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza within 30 days, or else the U.S. may pull military support.

That 30-day deadline came and went last Tuesday. Israel failed to meet virtually any of the U.S. demands.

The Biden administration’s response? Never mind. The U.S. will continue providing arms to Israel.

In fact, in the 30 days since the Biden administration issued its ultimatum, Israel has failed to open any new border crossings into Gaza; allowed in only 42 trucks per day, according to aid groups — well short of the U.S. benchmark of 350; killed four aid workers; bombed a polio vaccine clinic; and banned the main U.N. agency responsible for providing aid to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

In addition to covering the latest efforts to block aid to Israel moving forward in Congress, The Intercept continues to shine a bright light on the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza and expose the killing of journalists by Israeli forces — teaming up with freelance journalists on the ground and partnering with Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism.

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