The Democratic votes on the pair of resolutions from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., were not enough to overcome universal opposition from Republicans.
Still, the votes represented a watershed moment in the party’s relationship with Israel and the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel had continued to enjoy strong support from Democratic leaders, despite outrage from the base over the war on Gaza. Sanders said the votes signaled that party leaders are finally taking note.
“This is where the American people are. The polls are very clear: The overwhelming majority of American people do not want to continue to give weapons to Netanyahu and his horrific wars in the Mideast,” he said. “I think the Democrats have caught on to that. It took a little while, but they caught on to that. But Republicans, I think, are standing in opposition to millions of their own supporters.”
Legislation doesn’t just pass by magic. There has to be a critical point of majority support. In this case, there wasn’t.
This feels a bit like the Epstein stuff. Liberal politicians recognizing how ugly their primary bids could get and how dangerous the general could be for pro-Israeli candidates going into 2028 and have decided to hedge their bets.
Meanwhile Republicans seem dead set on making this a referendum on the US-Iran War, which their caucus largely supports.