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US Senate Smacks Down Bernie Sanders-Backed Effort to Block Arms Sales to Israel

US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks to the media following a meeting with US President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington, US, July 17, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

The US Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly voted against an effort to implement a partial arms embargo on Israel, rebuffing three separate resolutions spearheaded by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to deprive the Jewish state of weapons amid its ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.

Though lawmakers largely voted to preserve weapons sales to Israel, a total of 19 senators — 17 Democrats and two independents — supported at least one of the three measures to block weapons transfers to the Jewish state, indicating a growing partisan divide on the issue. Every Republican senator voted against the attempted arms embargo.

The Senate rejected S.J.Res.111, a measure to ban the sale of tank cartridges to Israel, by a margin of 79 to 18. The measure received support from Sanders as well as Sen. Angus King (ME), a fellow independent, and Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren (MA), Dick Durbin (IL), Tim Kaine (VA), Chris Van Hollen (MD), Jeff Merkley (OR), Peter Welch (VT), Jon Ossoff (GA) Raphael Warnock (GA), Chris Murphy (CT), Tina Smith (MN), Jeanne Shaheen (NH), Ben Ray Lujan (NM), Martin Heinrich (NM), Mazie Hirono (HI), Brian Schatz (HI), and Ed Markey (MA).

Other anti-Israel resolutions sponsored by Sanders, S.J. Res. 113 and S.J. Res. 115, which targeted sales of mortar rounds and precision-guided bombs, were rejected on the Senate floor by similar margins. 

A quartet of lawmakers — Sanders, Merkley, Van Hollen, and Welch — announced  their effort on Tuesday to limit the Jewish state’s access to much-needed arms, accusing the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of recklessly endangering civilian lives in Gaza. 

During his speech on the Senate floor, Sanders lambasted Israel for allegedly violating the “internationally-recognized human rights” of Palestinians and blocking “US humanitarian aid” from being distributed in Gaza. Thus, Sanders argued that it is “illegal for the United States government to provide Israel with more offensive weapons.”

Sanders also repudiated Israeli officials, stating that their “extremist government has not simply waged war against Hamas; it has waged an all out war against the Palestinian people.”

Ossoff, who is Jewish, accused the IDF of behaving with “reckless disregard” for the lives of Palestinian civilians. He slammed the Jewish state for supposedly failing to “provide safe passage for food and essential medical supplies” in Gaza and criticized Israel for engaging in “conduct” that allegedly undermined American interests. Lamenting the resolution’s failure, Ossoff stated that Israeli officials needed a “message” that the Jewish state must “have mercy for the innocent.”

Van Hollen urged the Biden administration to walk back the “blank check” afforded to Israel in the form of access to American weapons. The senator accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of refusing “compliance with American laws” by restricting “humanitarian assistance” in Gaza and refusing to follow “international humanitarian law” while using US weapons. 

Van Hollen recently accused the Jewish state of “ethnic cleansing” during an appearance on the Zeteo” digital network.

The Biden administration urged senators to vote against the resolution, dashing hopes among progressives that the White House would capitulate to efforts to undermine Israel’s war against Hamas during the president’s final months in office. The White House stated that the weapons are both critical to Israel’s defense and are not slated for delivery for the next few years, “so the likelihood of them being used in this iteration of the Gaza context is very low.”

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), who is Jewish, slammed members of his own party for voting to disarm Israel. “We’ve been at the forefront of every movement in this country when other minority groups needed help; we were the ones who stood up. And when we needed them, they abandoned us, period,” Moskowitz wrote in reaction to the votes.

Similarly, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) ripped into his colleagues for supporting the anti-Israel measures. 

“This one I really don’t understand. It’s counterproductive to the safety of the communities. I don’t understand why we would want to prevent Israel from having the technology to have precision use of its munitions,” Cardin wrote. 

Meanwhile, J Street, a progressive Zionist group that has been critical of Israel, lauded the Democratic senators who supported the “symbolic but deeply meaningful vote” which would have ended the “black check support” for the Jewish state’s war against terrorists. 

“What the large number of supporting votes does indicate is growing concern over the direction that the far-right government of Israel is leading the country. It is a manifestation of deep discomfort over the extent of the human tragedy the Israeli government is inflicting on Gaza and the lack of any commitment by the Netanyahu government to a feasible post-conflict plan for governance and security that leads toward a resolution of the underlying political conflict,” J Street President Jeremy Ben Ami wrote.

Israel says it has gone to unprecedented lengths to try and avoid civilian casualties in Hamas-ruled Gaza, noting its efforts to evacuate areas before it targets them and to warn residents of impending military operations with leaflets, text messages, and other forms of communication. However, Hamas has in many cases prevented people from leaving, according to the Israeli military.

Another challenge for Israel is Hamas’s widely recognized military strategy of embedding its terrorists within Gaza’s civilian population and commandeering civilian facilities like hospitals, schools, and mosques to run operations, direct attacks, and store weapons.

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said last month that Israel has delivered over 1 million tons of aid, including 700,000 tons of food, to Gaza since it launched its military operation a year ago. He also noted that Hamas terrorists often hijack and steal aid shipments while fellow Palestinians suffer.

The Israeli government has ramped up the supply of humanitarian aid into Gaza in recent weeks under pressure from the United States, which has expressed concern about the plight of civilians in the war-torn enclave.

The post US Senate Smacks Down Bernie Sanders-Backed Effort to Block Arms Sales to Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Germany’s Scholz Rebukes Vance, Defends Europe’s Stance on Hate Speech and Far Right

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks to the media after he met former prisoners following the largest prisoner exchange between Russia and the West in decades, at the military area of Cologne Bonn Airport in Cologne, Germany, August 1, 2024. Photo: Christoph Reichwein/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz delivered a strong rebuke on Saturday to US Vice President JD Vance’s attack on Europe’s stance toward hate speech and the far right, saying it was not right for others to tell Germany and Europe what to do.

Vance lambasted European leaders on Friday, the first day of the Munich Security Conference, accusing them of censoring free speech and criticizing German mainstream parties’ “firewall” against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

“That is not appropriate, especially not among friends and allies. We firmly reject that,” Scholz told the conference on Saturday, adding there were “good reasons” not to work with the AfD.

The anti-immigration party, currently polling at around 20% ahead of Germany’s February 23 national election, has pariah status among other major German parties in a country with a taboo about ultranationalist politics because of its Nazi past.

“Never again fascism, never again racism, never again aggressive war. That is why an overwhelming majority in our country opposes anyone who glorifies or justifies criminal National Socialism,” Scholz said, referring to the ideology of Adolf Hitler’s 1933-45 Nazi regime.

Vance met on Friday with the leader of AfD, after endorsing the party as a political partner — a stance Berlin dismissed as unwelcome election interference.

Referring more broadly to Vance’s criticism of Europe’s curtailing of hate speech, which he has likened to censorship, Scholz said: “Today’s democracies in Germany and Europe are founded on the historic awareness and realization that democracies can be destroyed by radical anti-democrats.

“And this is why we’ve created institutions that ensure that our democracies can defend themselves against their enemies, and rules that do not restrict or limit our freedom but protect it.”

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot added his voice to the defense of Europe’s stance on hate speech.

“No one is required to adopt our model but no one can impose theirs on us,” Barrot said on X from Munich. “Freedom of speech is guaranteed in Europe.”

UKRAINE

The prospect of talks to end the Ukraine-Russia war had been expected to dominate the annual Munich conference after a phone call between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin this week, but Vance barely mentioned Russia or Ukraine in his speech to the gathering on Friday.

Instead, he said the threat to Europe that worried him most was not Russia or China but what he called a retreat from fundamental values of protecting free speech – as well as immigration, which he said was “out of control” in Europe.

Many conference delegates watched Vance’s speech in stunned silence. There was little applause as he delivered his remarks.

Asked by the panel moderator if he thought there was anything in Vance’s speech worth reflecting on, Scholz drew laughter and applause in the crowd when he responded, in a deadpan manner: “You mean all these very relevant discussions about Ukraine and security in Europe?”

The post Germany’s Scholz Rebukes Vance, Defends Europe’s Stance on Hate Speech and Far Right first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Trump Team to Start Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks in Saudi Arabia in Coming Days, Politico Reports

US Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) speaks on Day 1 of the Republican National Convention (RNC) at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, July 15, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mike Segar

Senior officials from US President Donald Trump’s administration will start peace talks with Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in Saudi Arabia in the coming days, Politico reported on Saturday, citing sources familiar with the plan.

US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Saudi Arabia, the report said. Special envoy for Ukraine-Russia talks, Keith Kellogg, will not be in attendance, according to the report.

The post Trump Team to Start Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks in Saudi Arabia in Coming Days, Politico Reports first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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UN Peacekeeping Mission Deputy Commander Injured After Convoy Attacked in Beirut

FILE PHOTO: A UN peacekeepers (UNIFIL) vehicle is seen next to piled up debris at Beirut’s port, Lebanon October 23, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo

The outgoing deputy force commander of the United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) in Lebanon was injured on Friday after a convoy taking peacekeepers to Beirut airport was “violently attacked,” UNIFIL said.

The mission demanded a full and immediate investigation by Lebanese authorities and for all perpetrators to be brought to justice, it said in a statement.

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun condemned the attack on Saturday, saying that security forces would not tolerate anyone who tries to destabilize the country, according to a statement from his office.

The French government also condemned the attack.

“France calls on the Lebanese security forces to guarantee the security of blue-helmet peacekeeping forces, and calls on Lebanon’s judicial authorities to shed all light on this unacceptable attack and to go after those responsible,” the French foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Lebanon’s Interior Minister Ahmad al-Hajjar called for an emergency meeting before noon on Saturday to discuss the security situation, Lebanese state news agency NNA reported.

“He affirmed the Lebanese government’s rejection of this assault that is considered a crime against UNIFIL forces,” NNA reported, citing the minister.

He also gave instructions to work on identifying the perpetrators and referring them to the relevant judicial authorities.

The minister told reporters on Saturday that more than 25 people had been detained for investigation over the attack.

The United States earlier condemned the attack. A State Department statement said the attack was carried out “reportedly by a group of Hezbollah supporters”, referring to the Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon.

The post UN Peacekeeping Mission Deputy Commander Injured After Convoy Attacked in Beirut first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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