By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON, Sept 29 (Reuters) – US Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked a bid to require President Donald Trump’s administration to report to Congress on increasing violence in the occupied West Bank, including the deaths of American citizens.
The procedural vote was the latest sign of friction between US Democrats and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government over Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and of Republicans’ continuing strong support for his coalition.
The Senate voted 47 to 51 to block the resolution. The vote was largely along party lines, with every Republican voting no except for Rand Paul of Kentucky and every Democrat except John Fetterman of Pennsylvania in favor.
The resolution would have required the State Department to report to Congress on the killing of US citizens by Israeli settlers or Israeli security forces in the West Bank and to assess the human rights situation.
Violence by Jewish settlers against Palestinians in the territory has risen sharply this year.
While the resolution would not have cut aid to Israel, the largest cumulative recipient of US foreign assistance since World War Two, a failure by the administration to deliver the report could have triggered restrictions on aid.
Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the measure’s lead sponsor, had argued that it was “long past time” to examine human rights in the West Bank, including the deaths of nine Americans since 2022.
“It is our responsibility to ensure recipients of US taxpayer dollars act in line with our laws and our values,” he said in a statement, referring to Israel.
Republicans accused Democrats of seeking to score political points as Israel is under threat, seven months after US and Israeli forces launched airstrikes that began an ongoing conflict with Iran.
“I urge my colleagues to vote no on this resolution so we can stand with our ally Israel as they beat back the scourge of Iranian-backed terrorism,” Montana Republican Senator Steve Daines said in a speech.
ELECTIONS LOOM
The vote took place weeks before US midterm elections on November 3, in which polls show Trump’s Republicans could lose their congressional majorities, signaling a potential shift in Israel policy in the new Congress.
Polls show the war with Iran is not popular with Americans, who are frustrated with higher energy prices resulting from the conflict.
Netanyahu, who has long aligned himself with US Republicans, faces an election in Israel on October 27, which public opinion polls show his right-wing coalition could lose.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. The UN and most countries consider settlements there illegal under international law governing military occupation. Israel rejects this, viewing the territory as disputed rather than occupied.
Some Democrats — and a few Republicans — also have called for curbs on military aid to Israel over its conduct of the war in Gaza, with tens of thousands of Palestinians killed and much of the enclave in ruins.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
