{"id":58767,"date":"2026-04-15T16:58:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T00:58:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/?p=58767"},"modified":"2026-04-15T17:32:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T01:32:54","slug":"cowardly-bullshit-handful-of-dems-join-with-senate-gop-to-block-ban-on-us-bombs-bulldozers-to-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/2026\/04\/15\/cowardly-bullshit-handful-of-dems-join-with-senate-gop-to-block-ban-on-us-bombs-bulldozers-to-israel\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Cowardly Bullshit\u2019: Handful of Dems Join With Senate GOP To Block Ban on US Bombs, Bulldozers to Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>US senators on Wednesday voted down a pair of resolutions aimed at blocking US bomb and bulldozer sales to Israel as it continues its genocidal war on Gaza and devastating bombardment and mass displacement in Lebanon.<\/p>\n<p>Upper chamber lawmakers voted 59-40 against advancing <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/119th-congress\/senate-joint-resolution\/32\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SJ Res. 32<\/a>, a joint resolution introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) \u201cproviding for congressional disapproval of the proposed foreign military sale to the government of Israel of certain defense articles and services.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At issue are $295 million worth of Caterpillar D9 series bulldozers, spare parts, and related services. Israel often uses the bulldozers to destroy homes and other civilian structures in Gaza, the illegally occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Lebanon.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"bluesky-embed\" data-bluesky-uri=\"at:\/\/did:plc:e6trdf4ulbcq2ludk5wdqyfg\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3mjkzwkkqac2x\" data-bluesky-cid=\"bafyreigjjaae64uhddk3rp57myesyeyz2l4go6ac33k47lsxmjrlbjo5zy\">\n<p lang=\"en\">Absolutely historic vote today where 40 US Senators voted to block the sale of Caterpillar D-9 bulldozers to Israel, citing civilian harm Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon.Though the measure was defeated (as expected), the tide is turning. Just last year, this number was 27.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/did:plc:e6trdf4ulbcq2ludk5wdqyfg?ref_src=embed\">Mai El-Sadany (@maitelsadany.bsky.social)<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/did:plc:e6trdf4ulbcq2ludk5wdqyfg\/post\/3mjkzwkkqac2x?ref_src=embed\">2026-04-15T23:21:17.506Z<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/embed.bsky.app\/static\/embed.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In 2003, American human rights activist <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/rachel-corrie\">Rachel Corrie<\/a> was <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/rachel-corrie\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">crushed to death<\/a> by a Caterpillar D9 while attempting to stop the demolition of a home in Rafah, Gaza.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Israel\u2019s bulldozers are wiping out civilian homes, tourist sites, and hotels in Naqoura, South Lebanon.<\/p>\n<p>Not military targets.<\/p>\n<p>South Lebanon is being erased \u2014 like Gaza before it.<\/p>\n<p>This is an American-backed, American-funded genocide. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ePDCZH0RSZ\">pic.twitter.com\/ePDCZH0RSZ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 sarah (@sahouraxo) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sahouraxo\/status\/2043747348921176310?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 13, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Entire villages and hamlets have been <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/2020\/11\/06\/grave-crime-rep-ilhan-omar-condemns-israeli-ethnic-cleansing-after-idf-destruction\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">razed<\/a> using the dozers as Israel ethnically cleanses the occupied territories to make way for Jewish-only settler colonies.<\/p>\n<p>The SJ Res. 32 roll call was followed by a 63-36 vote against advancing <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/119th-congress\/senate-joint-resolution\/138\/text\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SJ Res. 138<\/a>, which was introduced by Sanders and Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.). The measure rejects the proposed sale of 12,000 BLU \u2013 110A\/B general purpose, 1,000-pound bomb bodies and associated items and services.<\/p>\n<p>Experts <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/bombing-gaza\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">point to<\/a> Israel\u2019s use of 1,000- and 2,000-pound bombs in densely populated Gaza \u2013 and the Israeli military\u2019s loosened rules of engagement effectively allowing unlimited civilian casualties in strikes targeting a single Hamas militant of any rank \u2013 as a major reason why so many Gazans are being killed and injured.<\/p>\n<p>Sanders said on social media after the votes, \u201cToday, more than 80% of the Democratic caucus stood with the American people and voted to block US military aid to Netanyahu and his horrific, illegal wars.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are making progress,\u201d the senator continued. \u201cWhen we started this effort there were just 11 votes, now there are 40.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"bluesky-embed\" data-bluesky-uri=\"at:\/\/did:plc:upw5n2uwhzubjajdtqaufsek\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3mjl4fzaq5k2d\" data-bluesky-cid=\"bafyreidfaw4fqysohsoshbesdyrmga53lgqf2prn2en4x2sajwiywubqqe\">\n<p lang=\"en\">Today, more than 80% of the Democratic caucus stood with the American people and voted to block U.S. military aid to Netanyahu and his horrific, illegal wars.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/did:plc:upw5n2uwhzubjajdtqaufsek?ref_src=embed\">Senator Bernie Sanders (@sanders.senate.gov)<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/did:plc:upw5n2uwhzubjajdtqaufsek\/post\/3mjl4fzaq5k2d?ref_src=embed\">2026-04-16T00:05:43.715Z<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/embed.bsky.app\/static\/embed.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Matt Duss, executive vice president at the Center for International Policy and a former adviser to Sanders, <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/mattduss\/status\/2044500734050279712\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">slammed<\/a> Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) who voted to block the resolutions for their \u201ccowardly bullshit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Duss noted that just last September, Coons said that \u201cif there is no change in direction from the Israeli administration, for the first time I would seriously consider\u201d voting to block arms transfers to Israel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIsraeli behavior has only gotten worse since then,\u201d Duss said.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">How can these Dems argue they&#8217;re against the war while voting to ship weapons to Israel? <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/cMvlXi5JnW\">https:\/\/t.co\/cMvlXi5JnW<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/brhodes\/status\/2044562751948001791?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 15, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Wednesday\u2019s votes followed numerous previous failed attempts to limit US arms transfers to Israel since it launched its genocidal retaliation for the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023, which has left more than 250,000 <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/palestinians\">Palestinians<\/a> dead, wounded, or missing.<\/p>\n<p>The Biden and Trump administrations have lavished Israel with more than $21 billion in armed aid since October 2023, despite the International Criminal Court\u2019s issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>US senators on Wednesday voted down a pair of resolutions aimed at blocking US bomb and bulldozer sales to Israel as it continues its genocidal war on Gaza and devastating bombardment and mass displacement in Lebanon. Upper chamber lawmakers voted 59-40 against advancing SJ Res. 32, a joint resolution introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":372,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"coauthors":[806],"class_list":["post-58767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"meta_box":{"disable_donate_message":"0","custom_donate_message":"","subtitle":"\u201cToday, more than 80% of the Democratic caucus stood with the American people and voted to block US military aid to Netanyahu and his horrific, illegal wars,\u201d said Sanders."},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/372"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58767"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58777,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58767\/revisions\/58777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58767"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=58767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}