US Democrats Try To Block $735 Million In Arms Sales To Israel

Illustration of Israeli military vehicle. (Wikimedia Commons/Israel Defense Forces)

JAKARTA - Members of the United States (US) Parliament from the Democratic Party proposed a resolution blocking the sale of precision-guided weapons worth US$ 735 million.

The resolution, which was submitted on Wednesday local time, addresses the development of the armed conflict that has occurred between Israel and Palestine.

This resolution was adopted by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Mark Pocan, and Rashila Tlaib, with the support of six other lawmakers, including several leftist Democrat politicians in the US House of Representatives.

They were among lawmakers calling for a more concerted US effort to stop violence, including Israeli airstrikes that have killed hundreds of civilians, most of them Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.

"At a time when so many people, including President Biden, support a ceasefire, we should not send Prime Minister Netanyahu an arsenal of 'direct attacks' to prolong this violence," Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement.

The resolution is unlikely to develop further in the US House of Representatives, where Chairman Nancy Pelosi's office controls which laws are passed for the vote. Chamber leaders have expressed support for the sale.

To note, President Joe Biden's government approved a potential sale of US$ 735 million worth of weapons to Israel earlier this year.

The approval was sent to the US Congress for formal review on May 5, giving lawmakers 15 days to object under the law governing foreign arms sales.

The sale of Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) made by Boeing Co., was considered routine at the time, before the start of the month earlier this month from the region's fiercest hostilities in years.

Both Republicans and Democrats in Congress have generally expressed strong support for Israel. The country has been the largest recipient of US foreign aid since World War Two, with Washington currently providing military assistance to Israel of around US$ 3.8 billion a year.