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.

The Senate overwhelmingly rejected a resolution to ban certain arm sales to Israel late Wednesday evening, exposing stark divisions among Democrats over support for Israel and the country’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

A record number of Senate Democrats, more than half the caucus, voted in favor of two resolutions to block U.S. military sales to Israel on Wednesday night. While the resolutions ultimately failed, the vote demonstrated how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fractured historically bipartisan support in Congress over the humanitarian crisis in the