Twenty-seven Senate Democrats, a majority of the caucus, voted Wednesday night for at least one of two resolutions to block shipments of U.S. aid to Israel.

The votes are a signal of the depth of Democratic outrage with the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the breadth of the anti-Israel shift within the party. Previous efforts, also led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), to advance such resolutions, picked up 19 and 15 votes, in November 2024 and April 2025, respectively.

Twenty-seven Democrats voted for the first of the two resolutions, which addressed automatic weapons that supporters said were destined for police units controlled by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right official in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

They included Sanders and Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Jack Reed (D-RI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Peter Welch (D-VT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ed Markey (D-MA), Angus King (I-ME), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Patty Murray (D-WA), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Tina Smith (D-MN), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM).

Reed — the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Murray — the ranking member of the Appropriations Committee, Blunt Rochester, Baldwin, Klobuchar, Duckworth, Alsobrooks and Whitehouse have not supported past efforts to cut off aid to Israel.

Ossoff, Warnock, Shaheen and King voted for some or all of the first round of resolutions Sanders introduced to block arms for Israel in November, but opposed a second round in April.

Twenty-four Democrats voted for the second resolution on Wednesday, regarding bombs and bomb guidance kits. Reed, Whitehouse and Ossoff flipped on the second vote, opposing freezing that tranche of aid.

Sens. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) — who on Tuesday said she would consider cutting off offensive weapons for Israel — were not present for either vote. Both Kelly and Gallego were present for votes earlier in the day on Wednesday. Slotkin spent part of the day taping an interview on Stephen Colbert’s late night television show.

A Kelly spokesperson said he missed the votes due to a “previously planned visit to Cape Canaveral to support his friend and former Astronaut classmate Mike Fincke as he launches into space. Senator Kelly has been pushing the Israeli government and the Trump administration to get desperately needed food into Gaza to prevent the starvation of innocent Palestinians. He also has been consistent about supporting Israel in their self defense.” 

Kelly’s office said that he would have voted against both resolutions.

A source familiar with the situation said Gallego, who is a new father, was absent because of family duties, and that the last-minute notice for the votes made scheduling difficult. The source said Gallego would have voted against the resolutions.

Ossoff said in a statement that he voted for the first resolution because he “do[es] not believe the United States Senate should acquiesce without objection to the extreme mass deprivation of civilians in Gaza, including the intolerable starvation of children, that have resulted from the policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Furthermore, these weapons would likely have been allocated to police forces under the control of Itamar Ben-Gvir.”

He said he voted against the second resolution because, “[d]espite my opposition to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s conduct of the war in Gaza, I believe the United States must continue to support the Israeli people, who face the persistent threat of rocket and missile attack and have been subjected to intense aerial bombardment from Iran, Lebanon, and Yemen. Israel’s capacity to strike those who would launch missiles and rockets at Israeli civilians depends upon the deterrence provided by the Israeli Air Force.”

Up for reelection in 2026, Ossoff faced significant backlash for his previous votes against U.S. aid to Israel, but had been working to repair relations with the Jewish community — though that’s been a rocky process.

Alsobrooks, whose views on Israel policy came under close scrutiny from Maryland’s sizable Jewish community during the 2024 election cycle, characterized this as a history-defining moment.

“There are moments in history where our silence will not only be remembered — it will be judged,” she said. “I joined the voices of so many who feel the moral imperative to demand change. To witness the inhumanity of starving children and say nothing is not just a dereliction of duty but of conscience.”

She said that she remains “committed to the U.S.-Israel relationship and my belief that the people of Israel have a right to defend themselves.”

Duckworth had previously rejected the idea of voting for resolutions to cut off U.S. aid to Israel, arguing that the legislation was “symbolic,” would not produce a resolution to the conflict and would disincentivize Hamas and Hezbollah from agreeing to ceasefires, as well as endanger U.S. forces in the region.

On this vote, Duckworth said in a statement that the Israeli government has ignored pressure from her to take steps to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and that her votes were intended to reflect “deep frustration” with the Israeli government and “send a message” to the Trump administration.

“Israel’s unacceptable choice to restrict humanitarian and food aid from entering Gaza — for months — is now causing innocent civilians, including young children, to starve to death. Ending this famine is not only a moral imperative, it is also in the best interests of both Israel’s and our own country’s long-term national security,” Duckworth said. “While I have always supported Israel’s right to defend itself and protect the Israeli people, these dire circumstances must end.”

Murray said she voted for the resolutions to “send a message” that the Israeli government cannot continue its current strategy.

“This legislative tool is not perfect, but frankly it is time to say enough to the suffering of innocent young children and families,” Murray said. “Israel has a right to defend itself and Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization that should be eliminated, but the level of suffering and loss of life we are seeing in Gaza must come to an end.”

She put the onus on the American and Israeli governments to secure a diplomatic solution to the conflict and accused Netanyahu of dragging the war out to remain in power.

Blunt Rochester said in a statement that “until Israel significantly shifts its military posture to end the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the West Bank, I cannot in good conscience support further military aid and arms sales to Israel.”

She cited a range of concerns including the “seemingly deliberate bombing of civilian infrastructure, the alleged killing of Gazan civilians seeking food aid, the man-made famine among the Palestinian people, the increased presence of illegal settlers and violence in the West Bank, the killing of an American citizen without an impartial investigation, and the continued refusal to responsibly work toward a two-state solution.”

Warnock said that the Israeli government is committing a “moral atrocity that cannot abide the conscience of those who believe in human dignity, freedom and human thriving” and that “the Netanyahu administration must change course.”

Esther Panitch, a Jewish Georgia state legislator, responded by condemning Warnock for failing to mention Hamas’ role in the situation and the United Nations’ failure to distribute aid inside Gaza, adding “it’s becoming increasingly untenable to be a pro-Israel Democrat when the U.S. Senate empowers Hamas.”

Shaheen, the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that Israel “has not conducted its military operations in Gaza with the necessary care required by international humanitarian law” or allowed sufficient humanitarian aid into Gaza. “I will also continue to support Israel’s right to defend itself, but I cannot in good conscience vote in support of weapons until the human anguish in Gaza comes to an end,” Shaheen continued.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) reiterated his opposition to the Sanders efforts, saying in a statement, “I have long held that security assistance to Israel is not about any one government but about our support for the Israeli people. For that reason, I voted no on the resolutions of disapproval on aid to Israel.”

One pro-Israel Democratic strategist lamented the state of discourse about Israel policy within the Democratic Party.

“There is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and Netanyahu’s strategy has failed. Yet the alacrity — and even glee — one saw among Democratic officials and commentators to believe and amplify every smear against the Jewish state has been bracing,” the strategist told JI. “When you give no agency to Hamas, Qatar, or the U.N. and reflexively set up Bibi as the devil, there is a word for it — and Jews have seen this movie many times before.”

All Republicans present voted against the resolutions.

Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called the resolutions “misguided” and said that the conflict and the situation in Gaza is “the fault of Hamas.”

“These are not good people, and it is in the interest of America and the world to see this terrorist group destroyed,” Risch said. “And I couldn’t agree more with my colleagues who want an end to this war. We all want to see an end to this war, an immediate ceasefire, and for the hunger crisis in Gaza to end. But the solution to all of this isn’t to deprive Israel of the weapons it needs. The solution is in the hands of Hamas” if the terror group surrenders and gives up its arms.

Jewish Insider’s congressional correspondent Emily Jacobs contributed reporting.