Last week, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) put out a series of anti-Israel resolutions that were no doubt destined to fail, and fail they did. That being said, there were still over a dozen Democrats who voted for them, including those up for reelection in 2026, and who could see their votes come back to haunt them.
On Wednesday, Sanders introduced three resolutions, including S.J.Res.111, "providing for congressional disapproval of the proposed foreign military sale to the Government of Israel of certain defense articles and services," which failed 18-79; S.J.Res.113, "providing for congressional disapproval of the proposed foreign military sale to the Government of Israel of certain defense articles and services," which failed 19-79; and S.J.Res.115, "providing for congressional disapproval of the proposed license amendment for the export of certain defense articles, defense services, and technical data to Israel," which failed 17-80.
All of the "yay" votes were from Democrats, and many were the usual suspects. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), who just narrowly won reelection earlier this month, voted "present" on all three resolutions. One name garnering particular attention, though, for his "yay" vote on two of the three resolutions is Sen. Jon Ossoff, from Georgia. Although he voted against S.J.Res.115, he still voted in favor of S.J.Res.111 and S.J.Res.113.
The reaction against all Democrats voting in favor of such resolutions was swift and severe, including in the replies section of Ossoff's own post to X about his reasons for his votes on the resolutions. Many pointed to him siding with Hamas with such a vote, rather than Israel, our ally in the Middle East in the Israel-Hamas conflict that's been in place since October 7 of last year when Hamas terrorists brutally attacked the Jewish State.
Hamas supporter
— Max 📟 (@MaxNordau) November 21, 2024
You want the Jewish children to remain in Hamas captivity. No daylight between you and Hamas. Disgusting.
— Shoshana R (@shoshana0611) November 21, 2024
Congratulations on becoming a member of the Pro-Terrorist Caucus.
— Shoost 🇺🇸🇮🇱🎗️📟 (@ShoostyBoost) November 21, 2024
As as your constituent, I am very disappointed in your decision Senator. Voted for you very enthusiastically. Please rethink this stance.
— saeesubhedar (@saeesubhedar) November 21, 2024
Blah blah blah. You turned your back on our friend and ally as she's fighting a war (for the West I might add) on 7 fronts. I will turn my back on you and gladly support whoever primaries you.
— (((Beth Balsam))) (@bbalsam) November 21, 2024
Several posts from Jewish Insider's Josh Kraushaar, who was also sharing an article from the outlet, highlighted how bad such a move was from Ossoff and Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), who voted for all three of the resolutions.
"This is as broad-based a Jewish coalition I've seen go after a sitting senator," Kraushaar mentioned in one post about Ossoff. "With little margin for error in 2026, Ossoff can't afford to alienate a group that was a critical part of his winning coalition in 2020."
This is as broad-based a Jewish coalition I've seen go after a sitting senator.
— Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) November 22, 2024
With little margin for error in 2026, Ossoff can't afford to alienate a group that was a critical part of his winning coalition in 2020. https://t.co/sABHUmMtGX
"The letter is a sign of the growing Jewish backlash against both Democratic senators for their votes earlier this week, which could pose an electoral hurdle, particularly for Ossoff, who will be up for re-election in 2026."https://t.co/U7eR0P1zwj
— Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) November 22, 2024
Warnock and Ossoff's votes are not merely unpopular with the Jewish community in Georgia, but in the country overall. James Coan, the executive director and co-founder of More Like US, recently spoke to Townhall about Americans views' on the Israel-Hamas conflict, including how it relates to Wednesday night's votes. The outcomes, he shared, were "fairly unsurprising."
"Americans across the political spectrum have aligned views on the conflict in the Middle East, with a significant number not being purely pro-Israeli or pro-"Palestinian." More Like US has aggregated dozens of survey datapoints from 2024 about the conflict. Majorities of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents believe it is at least somewhat important for the US to provide military aid to Israel, but also for the US to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians. Therefore, it is fairly unsurprising that the majority of Democrats and all Republicans in the Senate just rejected three bills led by Bernie Sanders and a few other Senate Democrats that sought to block weapons transfers to Israel, while the Biden Administration has continued to provide humanitarian aid to those in Gaza and the West Bank," Coan shared.
"Additionally, Americans think Hamas is a terrorist organization and committed war crimes in the current war, but also say it is at least somewhat important for the US to negotiate a permanent ceasefire and have at least a minor role in diplomatically ending the war; and Americans at least somewhat sympathized with both the Israeli and "Palestinian" people. Some of these views appear to contradict each other, but they show a nuanced American public with majority support for both seemingly liberal and conservative positions. Voices at both extremes fail to align with the perspectives of majorities of Americans," he continued.
Sanders, however, has meanwhile continued to hold onto his positions that keep him in the extreme minority in the U.S. Senate, as well as the United States, as Coan stressed above. Sanders' X account last week was full of anti-Israel posts, including one where he applauded the 19 Democratic senators for their votes, while also accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of committing "war crimes."
Last night, 19 Senators voted to end illegal arms sales to Israel.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) November 21, 2024
We stood up to AIPAC, the Democratic Senate leadership, and the Biden administration.
We must continue going forward to end illegal arms sales and hold Netanyahu accountable for his war crimes.
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