Measures to Block Israel Arms Sale a Choice: Uphold U.S. Law or Arm Atrocities

July 30, 2025 – In response to the introduction of privileged Senate measures to block the Trump Administration’s proposed sales of 1,000-pound bombs, joint direct attack munitions (JDAMs), fully automatic rifles and related support to Israel, the Center for International Policy’s Security Assistance Monitor (SAM) Director, Ari Tolany, issued the following statement:

“This measure puts a critical choice before Senators: take meaningful steps to end starvation in Gaza, achieve a lasting ceasefire, and de-escalate violence in the Middle East, or grant Israel more of the bombs and guns used to perpetrate crimes against humanity in Gaza and destabilize the region.

“After 21 months of enabling atrocities in Gaza, the Senate should finally act to uphold U.S. law and basic decency by preventing the transfer of these weapons, and other arms likely to be used in war crimes.”

“Joint direct attack munitions and other systems for munitions guidance are often marketed as a tool to mitigate civilian harm through more precise targeting. In the hands of a government like Benjamin Netanyahu’s, however, these weapons become tools to precisely target aid workers, journalists, and structures indispensable to the survival of the civilian population.

“Israeli forces have used automatic rifles to kill starving Palestinian civilians near aid sites in Gaza. They’ve used them to kill American citizens like journalist Shireen Abu-Akleh and demonstrator Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi in the West Bank. And now our government plans to send more of these weapons to Israel for use in occupied territory, including by police units under the authority of an Israeli minister who openly calls for ethnic cleansing and has been convicted of supporting terror.

“Under international law, Israel has an obligation as an occupying power to facilitate humanitarian access to Gaza. Instead, it has imposed a months-long, near-total siege of the territory, and turned nominal aid distribution sites into killing fields.

“The billions of dollars of American taxpayer-subsidized weapons, aid, and logistical support provided to Israel as it commits atrocities makes the United States complicit in Palestinians’ suffering. By continuing to supply weapons that are likely to be used in gross violation of international humanitarian law, the United States could be legally liable for aiding and abetting war crimes.”