<p>Every Democratic senator except Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman voted on Tuesday for a measure seeking to hold accountable Israeli soldiers and settlers who have killed U.S. citizens in the West Bank. The vote indicated a significant shift in the party’s position on Israel over the past two years.</p>
<p>Fetterman, who supports a pro-Israel stance, was the only Democratic senator to oppose the measure despite the recent killing of a Palestinian American constituent in the West Bank by Israeli settlers.</p>
<p>Despite near-unanimous Democratic support, the measure did not pass, with the Senate voting 51-47 against advancing the resolution. The resolution aimed to require the State Department to report on whether it is investigating the killings of nine U.S. citizens by Israeli security forces or settlers since 2022.</p>
<p>The resolution was designed to focus on American victims, particularly those killed by the right-wing Jewish settlement movement, but it faced nearly universal opposition from Senate Republicans. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky was the only Republican to vote in favor of it.</p>
<p>The most recent U.S. citizen killed by settlers in the West Bank was a 19-year-old from Philadelphia. Local Pennsylvania officials called for an investigation, but neither Fetterman nor his Republican counterpart from Pennsylvania, Senator Dave McCormick, supported the Senate measure.</p>
<p>Senator Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who sponsored the resolution, stated that he has struggled to obtain information from both the Biden and Trump administrations regarding the pursuit of justice for U.S. citizens killed in the West Bank.</p>
<p>“The Biden administration did not do enough to secure justice, and the Trump administration has not done enough,” he said. “And if we can’t get accountability and justice for American citizens, imagine how hard it is for Palestinian families who don’t have a U.S. passport to get justice and accountability when they are killed or their villages get razed.”</p>
<p>Van Hollen’s resolution would have required the State Department to report on whether it or the Justice Department are investigating the killings of U.S. citizens in the West Bank, including that of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed by the Israeli military while reporting on an Israeli raid in 2022.</p>
<p>Van Hollen’s resolution also aimed to direct the State Department to report on the status of U.S. citizens held in Israeli prisons or military detention, highlighting the lengthy incarceration of a Palestinian American 16-year-old boy from Florida.</p>
<p>Advocates hoped the resolution would help achieve broader goals, as U.S. law prohibits selling arms to countries that engage in a consistent pattern of gross human rights violations. The resolution questioned whether Israel’s actions fit that pattern.</p>
<p>Senator Steve Daines, R-Mt., argued against the resolution, stating that its primary objective was not justice for Americans but to cut off security aid to Israel during a critical time.</p>
<p>Tuesday’s vote focused on whether to discharge the resolution from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Such resolutions are privileged, allowing any senator to force a full floor vote.</p>
<p>Van Hollen noted that his resolution had garnered more support from Senate Democrats than a similar effort led by Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in 2014, which received limited backing.</p>
<p>Public opinion polls indicate that Democrats have increasingly shifted their views on Israel and are more supportive of Palestine. Van Hollen stated, “While I was pleased that so many of my Democratic colleagues joined this effort, it’s clear the United States must do more. It is our responsibility to ensure recipients of U.S. taxpayer dollars act in line with our laws and our values – this resolution was an opportunity to shed light on a reality that flies in the face of that principle.”</p>