‘The president’s Middle East policy has failed’: Democrats are breaking with Biden over Israel and Gaza

Nearly a third of Senate Democratic caucus voted to halt arms sales on Wednesday, in direct defiance of the White House. This large number represents trouble for Biden’s legacy

In the Senate on Wednesday evening, three resolutions to block arms sales to Israel were defeated on the floor — one sponsored by Bernie Sanders, the chamber’s only avowed socialist member, and two others were sponsored by Jeff Merkley and Peter Welch. The outcome was all but preordained. What was notable instead was the number of members from Biden’s party who joined them — in direct defiance of both Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and the White House, which lobbied against the resolution and accused its supporters of aiding Hamas.

Nineteen senators in the Democratic caucus voted in support of ending or halting aid to Israel, a number that represents nearly a third of the caucus. Many were outspoken in their rebukes of both Israeli policy and US complicity in the tactics utilized by Israeli forces on the ground, as well as the conditions perpetuated by the war.

The message was clear: Joe Biden’s hold on his party is gone, and there is significant doubt among elected Democrats about his handling of the US-Israeli relationship since October 7, 2023.

President Joe Biden participated in the G20 summit in Brazil over the weekend as a contingent of Democrats prepared to rebuke him on Gaza (Getty Images)

On Thursday, The Independent caught up with some senators on both sides of the vote, the same day that the International Criminal Court formally issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the carnage in Gaza.

“These senators showed a lot of courage. They took on AIPAC, they took on the Democratic leadership here, they took on the president of the United States,” Sanders said. “I think it’s a strong step forward showing that the American people are sick and tired of policies which allow Israel to break the law.”

Chris Van Hollen, a senator from Maryland who has been one of the chamber’s most vocal critics of the Israeli siege of Gaza, was icy in a statement to Politico’s NatSec Daily newsletter after the vote: “The president’s Middle East policy has failed. And I think that the carnage and destruction of Gaza will forever be a stain on this record.”

He elaborated further in an interview after the fact.

“Look, I think it was a clear sign that a significant number of senators want the president to implement US law,” Van Hollen told The Independent. “...[I]t’s not about support for Israel, it’s about making sure the Netanyahu government uses that support in compliance with American law.”

The collection of senators who rebuked the departing president on Wednesday was far from just a collection of backbenchers. It included Dick Durbin, the longest-serving party whip in Senate history.

Speaking with The Independent, he explained that the growing resistance to military support for Israel in the Senate was due in part to a base understanding among the Democratic Senate caucus regarding Israel’s right to defend itself.

“Look, I think there’s a genuine concern,” said Durbin on Thursday. “All of the Democrats that I spoke to are committed to Israel existing and defending itself in a very dangerous part of the world. But we’re concerned with the strategy and tactics which Netanyahu has used to execute this war.”

This was likely to be one of the last impactful votes the Senate took in the 118th Congress, and probably represented Biden’s last pitch to his party to trust his judgment on support for the Israeli offensive against Hamas. It seems that trust has frayed considerably.