John,

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate voted for the first time ever on Joint Resolutions of Disapproval to block new shipments of U.S.-made weapons and military equipment to Israel.

Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced these resolutions to hold the Israeli government accountable for its war crimes against Palestinian and Lebanese civilians over the past year. Only 18 other senators joined him.

That doesn’t sound like a lot, and though it isn’t enough to block illegal weapons sales and stop this genocide, it is a massive rebuke against AIPAC. The right-wing megadonor-funded lobby group is rapidly losing legitimacy among the electorate and electeds, even in the most undemocratic of institutions.

Though it has taken over a year since the start of Israel’s ethnic cleansing campaign, the 19 senators who voted against sending more weapons to Israel should be commended, especially knowing that the Biden administration and Democratic leadership like Sen. Chuck Schumer put immense pressure on the Senate to vote against these resolutions, even using AIPAC talking points suggesting that a vote in favor would be aiding Hamas.

AIPAC was also out in full force yesterday trying to block these resolutions, and even attacked our calls to urge voters to participate in their democracy:

To work so hard to arm the culprits of genocide after you've already lost an election is one of the more depraved acts of this administration and the Democratic Party establishment. It just goes to show how unserious Democrats are about rooting out the corporate lobbyist influences in our Party and listening to the majority of its base.

We’re working to recruit more progressive, working class leaders to run for office and join these 19 senators in Congress in the fight for justice and human rights for ALL. Unlike corporate Democrats, we rely on grassroots donations from emails like this to do it.

If you can, please pitch in $5 or more today to fuel Justice Democrats’ 2026 Candidate Recruitment Fund and ensure we have the resources to send more human rights champions to Congress →

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AIPAC is powerful, but its grip on Washington is slipping the more that we speak out and support leaders who are brave enough to fight back and stand on the right side of history.

In solidarity,

Justice Democrats