Senator Bernie Sanders filed three joint resolutions of disapproval (JRD) on Thursday to block more than half a billion in U.S. arms sales to Israel amid the country’s war with Iran and ongoing bombardments of Lebanon.
Newsweek has reached out to Senator Bernie Sanders' office for comment via email on Thursday.
Why It Matters
Sanders, a longtime critic of U.S. military intervention, has repeatedly introduced resolutions to block U.S. arms sales to Israel during the war in Gaza.
The U.S., Israel's top diplomatic and financial ally, provides more than $3.8 billion in annual military aid. William D. Hartung, senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute, estimates the U.S. spent an additional $21.7 billion since Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, and Israel’s subsequent years-long military offensives.
The U.S. and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran on February 28, notably killing the country’s longtime Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Since then, Israel and U.S. forces have carried out sustained bombardments across the country, including strikes on military facilities, as well as energy and civilian infrastructure. Israel has also repeatedly bombed Lebanon.
Officials have reported upward of 3,000 deaths in the war, including over 1,300 in Iran, 900 people in Lebanon, 12 in Israel and 13 U.S. service members. The United Nations Refugee Agency says more than 3.2 million people have been displaced inside Iran, and more than 1 million in Lebanon.
What To Know
In a statement announcing the joint resolutions (JRD), Sander’s team said the three JRDs “that would block the sale of nearly $658.8 million in offensive U.S. weaponry to Israel amid President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s illegal, premeditated and unconstitutional war with Iran.”
JDRs can be used to try to block proposed executive actions, including arms sales, though they rarely succeed.
Sanders said the Trump administration is looking to bypass Congress and sell more than 20,000 bombs to the Israeli government. "These bombs are directly implicated in tens of thousands of civilian deaths in Iran, Lebanon and Gaza."
Hundreds of civilians have been killed in the ongoing war. More than 175 people, most of them small children, were killed in a likely U.S. missile strike on a girls’ elementary school in southern Iran on February 28, according to preliminary findings from a U.S. military investigation, per The Associated Press (AP). In addition, civilian health has been a major concern of the war, with Tehran, a city of more than 9 million people, having been shrouded in thick smoke and dangerous acid rain earlier this month after Israeli strikes hit oil depots and refineries in and near the Iranian capital.
Sanders argues that the bombs "clearly violates the criteria laid out in the Foreign Assistance Act," which states that U.S. arms transfers are not given "to the government of any country which engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights."
Three Democrats signed on as cosponsors of the JRDs: Senators Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Peter Welch of Vermont, and Jeff Merkley of Oregon.
Many Republicans support continued U.S. arms sales to Israel and have backed legislation to bolster its security, often emphasizing the country's strategic importance to the U.S. The United States and Israel coordinated strikes on Iran in June 2025, an operation many Republicans praised after U.S. attacks hit three Iranian nuclear sites.
What People Are Saying
Senator Bernie Sanders said in a Thursday press statement: "Given the horrific destruction that Israel’s extremist government has wrought on Gaza, Iran and Lebanon, the last thing in the world that American taxpayers need to do right now is to provide 22,000 new bombs to the Netanyahu government. No more weapons to support an illegal war.”
Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, said in a Thursday statement: "Donald Trump launched an illegal, unjustified war of choice against Iran that is making our nation less, not more, safe and has set the region on fire. It has resulted in 13 Americans killed and hundreds more injured, as well as the deaths of thousands of civilians. It’s also costing American taxpayers a billion dollars a day and driving up prices here at home. Trump not only disregarded Congressional authority to declare this war, he’s now bypassing Congress by invoking an emergency authority to supply additional bombs to this war, a crisis of his own making. Congress must use all the tools at our disposal to end Trump’s war, including stopping the transfer of over $658 million of taxpayer-funded bombs to the Netanyahu government. It is clear that prolonging this war by sending additional bombs to the Netanyahu government is not in America’s interests."
Senator Lindsey Graham said in a January statement: "I listened to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s ideas about how to build on existing partnerships to secure weapons of the future, and it made a lot of sense. The Prime Minister convinced me that Israel is developing weapons that will change the future of warfare. They would love to partner with the United States, which is the most important form of aid we could ever give them and the most important event that would provide security to both countries. Most importantly, the aid is a partnership and working together on weapons development would significantly enhance the security of both the United States and Israel. I told the Prime Minister this makes eminent sense to me, and I will go back to Washington, looking at this potential joint venture as a 21st century ‘Manhattan Project.’ Failure is not an option -- we have to get ahead of our enemies."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote in a March 17 X post: "Crossing names off the list is good - doing it shoulder to shoulder with our American friends is even better. Good to see Ambassador @GovMikeHuckabee. Always a pleasure."
Senator Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, said in a Thursday statement: "Donald Trump, working in lockstep with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, launched a reckless and unconstitutional war. I do not support sending more offensive weapons to the Netanyahu government.”
Senator Ted Cruz said in a February 28 statement: “Under President Trump’s leadership, the United States is systematically acting against American enemies who have undermined our national security since the Cold War. As the President said again this morning, the Iranian regime has been terrorizing and murdering Americans for 47 years, including innocent civilians, our servicemembers, and American leaders. The Ayatollah has repeatedly tried to assassinate President Trump. Now they are seeking nuclear weapons and the ability to hit the American homeland. Today’s action will enhance the national security of the United States and our allies. I applaud our Armed Forces, our intelligence community, and President Trump for their capabilities and resolve to eliminate these threats, and I am deeply appreciative that our Israeli allies are fighting alongside the U.S. on behalf of our mutual interests and against our mutual enemies. May God protect our servicemembers.”
Senator Peter Welch, a Vermont Democrat, said in a Thursday statement: "President Trump’s war of choice in Iran has been a catastrophe–jeopardizing our national security and the lives of our troops, killing and wounding thousands of innocent civilians, and causing havoc in the global economy. The war needs to end today. With the bombs already provided to Israel by American taxpayers, Israeli forces are unleashing a campaign of total war in Iran with the clear and deliberate intention to eviscerate Iran’s economy and society. I support these joint resolutions to make sure that we do not send another 20,000 bombs to Israel that will result in further destruction in Iran and Lebanon. We must end this war, and we must not send these bombs.”
President Donald Trump said in a March 18 Truth Social post: "Israel, out of anger for what has taken place in the Middle East, has violently lashed out at a major facility known as South Pars Gas Field in Iran. The United States knew nothing about this particular attack, and the country of Qatar was in no way, shape, or form, involved with it, nor did it have any idea that it was going to happen. Unfortunately, Iran did not know this, or any of the pertinent facts pertaining to the South Pars attack, and unjustifiably and unfairly attacked a portion of Qatar’s LNG Gas facility. NO MORE ATTACKS WILL BE MADE BY ISRAEL pertaining to this extremely important and valuable South Pars Field unless Iran unwisely decides to attack a very innocent, in this case, Qatar - In which instance the United States of America, with or without the help or consent of Israel, will massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before."
What Happens Next
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has 10 calendar days to consider the resolution.