15 Democrats back Sanders’ failed resolutions to cancel military aid to Israel

The Senate rejected a proposal by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., that would have blocked the Trump administration’s planned $8.8 billion arms sale to Israel. 

Sanders’ proposal was split into two votes, each of which failed, with 15 senators voting for the measure.

Fourteen Democrats voted with Sanders. They were Sens. Richard Durbin, Ill., Martin Heinrich, N.M., Mazie Hirono, Hawaii, Ben Ray Luján, N.M., Tim Kaine, Va., Andy Kim, N.J., Ed Markey, Mass., Jeff Merkley, Ore., Chris Murphy, Conn., Brian Schatz, Hawaii, Tina Smith, Minn., Chris Van Hollen, Md., Elizabeth Warren, Mass., and Peter Welch, Vt.

Sen. Bernie Sanders delivered a response speech to President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress. (Joe Maher/Getty Images For Fane)

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Prior to the vote, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, warned that in passing the resolutions, senators “would abandon Israel, our closes ally in the Middle East, during a pivotal moment for global security.”

On Wednesday, Sanders released a video discussing his proposal, in which he demanded that the U.S. “end our complicity in these atrocities” in Gaza. He also accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of behaving in a “barbaric” fashion, saying that humanitarian aid has been blocked from reaching Gazans.

From Jan. 19, 2025 until March 2, 2025, while the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal was in place, a total of 25,200 aid trucks entered Gaza, according to the Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories. This included 4,200 weekly aid trucks.

Trucks carrying aid line up near the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, Egypt, on Feb. 18, 2025. (REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany)

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Before it fell apart earlier last month, the ceasefire deal saw the release of 33 hostages and nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. 

Israel has long enjoyed bipartisan support in the U.S., but its latest war with Hamas has divided Democrats. Some, like Sen. John Fetterman, Pa., have been fierce defenders of Israel, while others, like Sanders, have been harsh critics.

Demonstrators take part in a protest in support of Palestinians in Gaza, on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 22, 2024. (REUTERS/Seth Herald)

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Sanders introduced a similar proposal in November 2024 during the Biden administration, which also failed. Many of the same senators who voted in favor of his April 2025 proposal voted for the resolution under the Biden administration, except for Sens. Angus King, Maine, Jeanne Shaheen, N.H. and Raphael Warnock, Ga. Fox News Digital contacted their offices to inquire about what changed between November 2024 and now. 

Shaheen’s office referred to a statement that they put out on Thursday, in which the senator explains her vote.

“As Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I am deeply concerned by the breakdown of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Immediately de-escalating the conflict is crucial for delivering humanitarian aid to Palestinians, releasing the remaining hostages and preventing a regional war. With the delicate negotiations to restore the ceasefire happening right now, I voted against the Joint Resolutions of Disapproval on arms sales to Israel to encourage progress in those conversations,” Shaheen said.

When speaking about his joint resolution of disapproval in November, Sanders claimed the Israeli government was controlled “not only by right-wing extremists, but by religious zealots.” He also accused Netanyahu of violating international law.