Israel-First Republicans blocked a measure in the U.S. Senate that would have required the State Department to produce a report about the nine American citizens killed in the West Bank since 2022.
Introduced by far-left Democrat Chris Van Hollen, the legislation was a privileged resolution that any senator or committee can introduce to demand accountability for human-rights abuses by nations that receive U.S. foreign aid or military assistance.
All Democrats but one, Israel-First Democrat John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, voted for it. All Republicans but one, Rand Paul of Kentucky, voted against it. Final vote: 47-51.
A month ago, 45 Democrats, including Van Hollen, wrote to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to demand he stop the violence in the West Bank and investigate the killings.
Not that Van Hollen is an America-First patriot. He’s a loud voice in the movement to protect illegal-alien criminals from deportation.
🚨🇺🇸🇮🇱 Nine Americans have been killed in the West Bank since 2022, and the Senate just voted against even asking why…
A 14-year-old from New Jersey was shot 11 times and a Seattle woman was shot in the head, and Chris Van Hollen argued Washington should at least ask why:
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Foreign Assistance Act
Van Hollen, and before him in 2024, socialist Bernie Sanders of Vermont, exercised his privilege under Section 502B(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.
“A principal goal of the foreign policy of the United States shall be to promote the increased observance of internationally recognized human rights by all countries,” the section says:
Except under circumstances specified in this section, no security assistance may be provided to any country, the government of which engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights. Security assistance may not be provided to the police, domestic intelligence, or similar law enforcement forces of a country.
But the section also provides authority for congressional oversight to ensure that such assistance is not provided. The secretary of state must provide annual human rights reports about recipient countries to Congress.
As well, “upon the request of the Senate or the House of Representatives by resolution of either such House, or upon the request of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate or the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, the Secretary of State shall, within [30] days after receipt of such request, transmit to both such committees a statement” that details the human-rights record of a country, and the what the United States has done to “promote respect for and observance of human rights in that country.” The secretary must also “publicly or privately call attention to, and disassociate the United States and any security assistance provided for such country.”
Israel has collected more than $300 billion in American tax money since 1946, and a memorandum of understanding provides for $3.8 billion annually through 2028.
The Nine Americans
Van Hollen’s measure detailed the circumstances under which the nine American citizens were killed. Among them were Omar Assad, 78, who in January 2022 “was stopped at a checkpoint in his village of Jiljilya, dragged by Israeli soldiers from his car, and left lying on the ground outside with his hands bound behind his back, gagged, and blindfolded, where he died of a stress-induced heart attack.”
That May, Israeli security forces shot Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the head. She wore a vest that clearly identified her as a journalist.
In July last year, Sayfollah Kamel Musallet, 20, was visiting family in the West Bank. He “was beaten to death by violent Israeli settlers.… [E]yewitness accounts report that settlers and Israeli forces impeded ambulance access for more than two hours.” Even Ambassador Mike Huckabee, the resolution observed, “called the killing of Mr. Musallet a ‘criminal and terrorist act’ and stated ‘there must be accountability.’”
The next month, Khamis Ayyad, 40, “died of smoke inhalation after violent Israeli settlers set homes and cars on fire during an attack on the village of Silwad.”
The resolution notes that the U.S. departments of State and Justice have not investigated the killings. It also names American citizens in Israeli captivity, including a boy whose family has paid bail to free him.
The Vote
Republicans did not agree.
Paul was the only Republican who voted for the measure. All but one Democrat — Fetterman — voted against it. In March last year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu famously gave the lawmaker a silver-plated pager to commemorate Operation Grim Beeper.
53 U.S. Senators voted against a resolution requiring the State Department to write a report on Israel’s humanitarian abuses and killing Americans.
They didn’t vote to stop sanctions or funding.
They voted to stop a report that would reveal that our tax dollars and military… https://t.co/DHfJbmrdun
“In just over four years, nine American citizens have been killed in the West Bank by violent Israeli settlers or members of the Israeli security forces,” Van Hollen said on the floor of the Senate:
And there has been zero accountability. No justice for their families. No one held accountable. The United States government has repeatedly said that our No.1 priority overseas is to protect American citizens. And yet, as violent Israeli settlers continue to terrorize civilians in the West Bank, American citizens have been killed time and again, in many cases with the complicity of the government of Israel, the Netanyahu government. It’s long past time that we shine a light on these killings, and all of the human rights abuses taking place in the West Bank.
Though Van Hollen’s measure failed, Responsible Statecraft noted, the solid Democrat vote for it shows that support for Israel in the party is waning.
“The vote count is nonetheless yet another sign of congressional Democrats’ rapid movement on questions regarding the U.S.-Israel relationship,” the website observed:
When … Sanders … introduced similar legislation in January 2024, it failed by a vote of 72-11.
Comparing this result to the vote two and half years ago, John Ramming Chappell, senior non-resident fellow at the Center for International Policy, said it was “remarkable that nearly every Democratic senator voted to scrutinize Israel’s human rights record.”
The vote surely concerns Israel, which is spending millions of dollars on a propaganda campaign to stop the hemorrhaging of support among Americans, particularly young people.
In August, the 45 Democrats told Netanyahu to order Israeli cops and security forces “to prevent and intervene in harassment, threats, and actual use of violence, regardless of the perpetrators.”
As well, he must “ensure that all those responsible for harassment, threats, and violence against Palestinians, including Palestinian-Americans, are held accountable through a transparent and credible process,” they wrote:
This includes completing investigations into and ensuring accountability for the deaths of nine American citizens who have been killed by settlers or security forces in the West Bank since 2022.
Stop approving additional settlements and stop allowing the construction of, and take steps to remove illegal outposts in the West Bank.
I’m about to board my flight to El Salvador, where I hope to meet with senior government officials to discuss the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
I also hope to see Kilmar and check on his condition — and remind him that we won’t stop fighting until he’s home. pic.twitter.com/dunE0lytIb
For his part, Van Hollen isn’t exactly an America-First patriot. He was one of the loudest voices who pushed to stop the deportation of wife-beating illegal-alien goon Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
Indeed, Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador to spring the MS-13 gang member from prison. And he bragged about it on X.
Van Hollen showed no such concern for constituent Patty Morin. An illegal alien murdered her daughter, but not a single Democrat called the Angel Mom to support her.
