‘Stand with our ally Israel’: Nine Americans have been killed in the West Bank since 2022, but Senate Republicans voted down a probe into it

A U.S. Senate procedural vote on Tuesday ended 47 to 51 against a resolution that would have ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to send Congress a report on violence in the occupied West Bank. Reuters said the blocked measure also covered the deaths of American citizens.

The outcome followed party lines in almost every case. All Republicans voted no except Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. All Democrats voted yes except Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania.

The vote can be seen as another sign of tension between U.S. Democrats and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government over the treatment of Palestinians. Republicans have kept strong support for Netanyahu’s coalition, even though support for Israel has taken a significant hit among Americans, according to recent polls.  

Van Hollen said the resolution would have examined deaths of nine Americans since 2022

Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland sponsored the measure. He argued 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.

The text would have directed the State Department to report on U.S. citizens killed by Israeli settlers or Israeli security forces in the West Bank and to assess human rights conditions there. Violence by armed settlers in the West Bank has also reached U.S. lawmakers, as Rep. Ro Khanna was detained by armed Israeli settlers there.

The resolution would not have cut aid. Israel remains the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign assistance since World War Two, the article stated. If the administration failed to produce the report, aid restrictions could have followed.

Republicans said Democrats were trying to score political points while Israel faces a threat. Reuters placed that argument seven months after U.S. and Israeli forces launched airstrikes that started an ongoing conflict with Iran.

Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines said in a speech, “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.”

The vote came weeks before the November 3 midterm elections. Polls show Trump’s Republicans could lose their congressional majorities. The war with Iran is not popular with Americans, who are frustrated with higher energy prices tied to the conflict.

Netanyahu faces an Israeli election on October 27. Public opinion polls show his right-wing coalition could lose, according to the article.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. The UN and most countries consider the settlements illegal under international law on military occupation. Israel rejects that view and treats the territory as disputed rather than occupied. Some Democrats and a few Republicans have called for limits on military aid to Israel over the war in Gaza. The article noted tens of thousands of Palestinians killed and much of the enclave in ruins.