Senate Republicans back Trump military sales to Israel

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday blocked two resolutions that would have stopped the sale of some $450 million in bombs and bulldozers to Israel , as President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans rallied behind his support for the Jewish state.

But support for the resolutions from a large majority of the 47-member Senate Democratic caucus underscored growing frustration within that party about the effect on civilians from Israeli strikes on Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.

A decades-long tradition of strong bipartisan support for Israel in the U.S. Congress means resolutions to stop weapons sales are unlikely to pass, but backers hope raising the issue will encourage Israel’s government and U.S. administrations to do more to protect civilians.

Supporters of the sales say Israel is an important ally to whom the United States should sell military equipment.

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, forced votes on the resolutions, saying the sales violate criteria for foreign assistance in the Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Export Control Act.

The first resolution would have prohibited the $295 million sale of D9R and D9T Caterpillar bulldozers, parts and other support. The vote was 59 to 40 against advancing the measure.

Seven Democrats voted with every Republican against advancing the resolution of disapproval of the bulldozer sale. Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming did not vote.

The second would have prohibited the $151.8 million sale of 12,000 BLU-110A/B general purpose 1,000-pound “dumb” bombs and related logistics and technical support services.

Eleven Democrats joined every Republican to block the measure by 63 to 36. Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina did not vote.

Israel uses the bombs in attacks on Gaza and Lebanon and uses the bulldozers to demolish homes in Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank, Sanders said.

“The United States must use the leverage we have - tens of billions in arms and military aid — to demand that Israel ends these atrocities,” he said, urging support for the resolutions.

Israel says it does not intentionally target civilians, and that its strikes are intended to neutralize militants and military infrastructure.

Wednesday’s vote showed an uptick in support for efforts to limit military sales to Israel. In July, two resolutions that would have blocked arms sales in response to civilian casualties in Gaza were blocked in the Senate.

Also introduced by Sanders, they failed by 73 to 24 and 70 to 27 in the 100-member chamber.

The Trump administration bypassed the normal congressional review of military sales early in the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, saying there was an emergency that made it necessary to immediately transfer the weapons.

周三，美国参议院否决了两项决议，这两项决议原本将阻止向以色列出售价值约 4.5 亿美元的炸弹和推土机。与此同时，唐纳德·特朗普总统的共和党同僚们团结起来，支持他对这个犹太国家的支持。

但参议院民主党47名成员中的绝大多数人对这些决议的支持，凸显了该党内部对以色列袭击加沙、黎巴嫩和伊朗给平民造成的影响日益增长的不满。

美国国会两党对以色列数十年来的坚定支持意味着停止武器销售的决议不太可能获得通过，但支持者希望提出这个问题能够促使以色列政府和美国政府采取更多措施来保护平民。

支持军售的人表示，以色列是美国的重要盟友，美国应该向其出售军事装备。

来自佛蒙特州的独立参议员伯尼·桑德斯与民主党人一起参加党团会议，他强迫就这些决议进行投票，称这些军售违反了《对外援助法》和《武器出口管制法》中关于对外援助的标准。

第一项决议拟禁止出售价值2.95亿美元的卡特彼勒D9R和D9T推土机、零部件及其他配套设备。该决议以59票赞成、40票反对获得通过。

七名民主党参议员与所有共和党参议员一起投票反对推进反对出售推土机的决议。怀俄明州共和党参议员辛西娅·卢米斯没有投票。

第二项禁令将禁止以 1.518 亿美元的价格出售 12,000 枚 BLU-110A/B 通用 1,000 磅“哑”炸弹以及相关的后勤和技术支持服务。

11名民主党人与所有共和党人一起，以63票对36票否决了该法案。北卡罗来纳州共和党参议员汤姆·蒂利斯没有投票。

桑德斯说，以色列利用炸弹袭击加沙和黎巴嫩，并用推土机拆毁加沙、黎巴嫩和约旦河西岸的房屋。

“美国必须利用我们所拥有的影响力——数百亿美元的武器和军事援助——要求以色列停止这些暴行，”他说道，并敦促各方支持这些决议。

以色列方面表示，其打击行动并非故意以平民为目标，而是为了消灭武装分子和军事基础设施。

周三的投票结果显示，限制对以色列军售的呼声有所上升。今年7月，两项旨在因加沙平民伤亡而阻止对以色列出售武器的决议在参议院遭到否决。

同样由桑德斯提出的这两项法案，在拥有 100 名成员的议会中分别以 24 比 73 和 27 比 70 的票数被否决。

在美以对伊朗发动战争初期，特朗普政府绕过了国会正常的军售审查程序，声称存在紧急情况，必须立即转移武器。