Senate Democrats Deliver a Resounding 'NO' to Annexation: It’s a Start
By Robert McDonald, Senior Legislative Researcher, A New Policy
On October 21, 46 of 47 Democratic Senators signed a letter unequivocally opposing the annexation of the West Bank and the expansion of Israeli settlements. For too long, challenging Israeli settlement expansion and annexation was seen as a political liability. The Democrats in the U.S. Senate shifted that paradigm.
The Democratic “Red Line”: Signaling a New Era of Accountability
This letter, representing more than 97 percent of the Senate Democratic Caucus, sends a clear message: unilateral annexation is a red line.
“This letter, signed by more than 97 percent of the Senate Democratic Caucus, is a clear and powerful victory for our movement. This shift is a result of sustained lobbying and coalition-building efforts. The Senate is beginning to catch up with the reality we all know to be true: The U.S. consensus is shifting away from impunity and toward justice.”
This unanimity among Senate Democrats isn’t accidental. It’s the direct result of sustained pressure, extensive education, and the relentless advocacy of organizations like A New Policy and our incredible supporters. We have proven that our work to highlight the costs of impunity and the erosion of U.S. credibility is resonating and shaping congressional action.
Beyond the Letter: Why The Shift Cannot Stop Here
While this letter is an incremental improvement, we know that a letter is not the law. The same violent settler project that carries forward Israel’s annexation effort and expands through unchecked violence continues to operate, often with financial lifelines that trace back to the U.S.
This is why the next step is so critical: enacting robust sanctions on settler violence and those behind it.
Just as the Senate Democrats have united against annexation, they must now unite to pass legislation that translates this principled stand into concrete action. As we detailed in our recent analysis, the West Bank Sanctions Bills (S. 2672/Welch and S. 2667/Booker) are vital next steps. These bills codify a Biden era executive order to sanction individuals and entities responsible for violence and human rights abuses, ensuring that those who kill Americans and destabilize the region face consequences.
While both bills reimpose the sanctions regime on those implicated in settler violence that was created under the Biden administration, the Booker bill includes a broad “national security waiver” that the President can use to circumvent the detailed reporting mechanisms included in both bills for removing sanctions.
However, we must remain vigilant. The proposed Booker Bill, while well-intentioned, currently contains a dangerous loophole through a “humanitarian aid exemption” that allows private U.S. donations to continue flowing to extremist settler groups, the very individuals we seek to sanction. Our role as a strategic watchdog is to ensure that no legislative loophole undermines the clear intent of accountability.
What You Can Do: Turn Political Will into Binding Law
This is not a theoretical debate; it is an active legislative fight with real-world consequences for U.S. policy and human lives.
Support Our Work: A New Policy acts as your strategic watchdog, ensuring U.S. policy advances American national security interests and reflects our ideals of human rights and equality. Your support allows us to continue this fight for a U.S. policy that truly protects our citizens and promotes peace.
The Senate Democrat’s near-unanimous opposition to annexation proves that our message is breaking through. Let’s seize this momentum and demand that accountability isn’t just a political statement, but the law of the land.
