During a town hall on Monday, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) was asked about his no vote on Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-VT) bill to block the sale of offensive weapons to Israel.
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00:00Hi, I'm Nancy Hood from Bristol, Rhode Island, and my question is for you, Senator Whitehouse.
00:06We've had a lot of communication over the years, and a letter you sent to me on September 13, 1924,
00:13you said, you believe Netanyahu was purposely obstructing peace in the Middle East
00:18and caused needless death and suffering. That's a quote from you.
00:22And you were right. Netanyahu is a wanted war criminal who's broken the fragile ceasefire on March 18th.
00:29will not allow any humanitarian aid into Israel, and the story goes on.
00:35I only have one minute, but I want to know, if you cared about the suffering of the people in Gaza,
00:42why didn't you join your colleagues in Massachusetts and Connecticut this month
00:46when they voted in support of Bernie Sanders' joint resolution of disapproval,
00:51which would have blocked the sale of the kinds of offensive U.S.-made weapons
00:55which have been used in the strikes that have killed thousands of civilians in Gaza,
01:00including aid workers and journalists in Gaza.
01:03And instead, you voted to spend $8.6 billion of our tax dollars on more offensive weapons,
01:09including 35,000 one-time bombs, in support of Netanyahu's war.
01:14I grew up in the Foreign Service, and I've spent my life watching Israel operate very usually
01:33with our values in an extremely dangerous neighborhood around them.
01:42Having watched that for decades, I am ardently pro-Israel.
01:47I do not like Bibi Netanyahu.
01:50I do not think he has been helpful in trying to bring peace in the Middle East.
01:55I think he has tried to interfere with the process that President Biden led.
02:00And I think his conduct of the war in Gaza has very often been excessive and disgraceful.
02:07But we have had presidents who have been excessive and disgraceful.
02:14I would say we have one right now.
02:16And I still want our friends abroad to stand by America, hoping for better days.
02:22I will stand by Israel.
02:24And I totally agree.
02:26I mean, this is – I don't want to disparage your views in any way at all.
02:34But long term, I'm pro-Israel.
02:37Pro-Israel!
02:40Yep, we're on.
02:43I want to make sure we get to the outside here.
02:45And like I said, it's in the outside here.
02:47But if you have someone, please go.
02:49Please point to that.
02:51Are you?
02:51Yep.