The U.S. Senate has approved weapons sales to Israel, despite the fact that a majority of Senate Democrats voted against the measure.

Twenty-seven Democrats voted for a resolution to block the sale of 20,000 automatic assault rifles to Israel, while 24 voted to halt a $675m shipment of bombs. All Republicans voting were opposed. The resolutions introduced by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders are by far the closest the US Senate has come to limiting arms shipments to Israel.

Though the resolutions failed, the result points to a significant shift among longtime pro-Israel liberal lawmakers