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Every Democratic senator <\/span>except Pennsylvania\u2019s John Fetterman voted on Tuesday for a measure seeking to hold accountable Israeli soldiers and settlers who have killed U.S. citizens in the West Bank. The vote stood as a sign of how much the party\u2019s position on Israel has shifted in the last two years.<\/p>\n Fetterman, who takes a hard pro-Israel line, was the lone holdout in his party despite having one of his constituents being the most recent Palestinian American killed in the West Bank by Israeli settlers.<\/p>\n Near unanimous Democratic support, however, was not enough to secure passage of the measure, with the Senate voting 51-47 against advancing the resolution. The measure would have required the \u00a0State Department to report on whether it is investigating the killings of nine U.S. citizens by Israeli security forces or settlers since 2022.<\/p>\n Although the resolution was crafted to focus on victims most sympathetic to U.S. elected officials \u2014 American citizens slain at the hands of the right-wing Jewish settlement movement \u2014 it still drew nearly universal opposition fromSenate Republicans. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was the only member of the GOP to vote in favor of it.<\/p>\n The most recent U.S. citizen killed by settlers in the West Bank was a 19-year-old from Philadelphia<\/a>. Though local Pennsylvania officials called for an investigation, neither Fetterman nor his Republican counterpart from Pennsylvania, Sen. Dave McCormick, voted for the Senate measure.<\/p>\n The resolution\u2019s sponsor, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said last week that he has struggled to get information from both the Biden and Trump administrations about whether they are pursuing justice for U.S. citizens killed in the West Bank.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Biden administration did not do enough to secure justice, and the Trump administration has not done enough,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd if we can\u2019t get accountability and justice for American citizens, imagine how hard it is for Palestinian families who don\u2019t have a U.S. passport to get justice and accountability when they are killed or their villages get razed.\u201d<\/p>\n Van Hollen\u2019s measure would have required the State Department to report on whether it or the Justice Department are investigating the killings of U.S. citizens in the West Bank, including that of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh<\/a>, who was slain by the Israeli military while reporting<\/a> on an Israeli raid on a refugee camp in 2022.<\/p>\n Van Hollen\u2019s resolution also directed the State Department to report on the status of U.S. citizens held in Israeli prisons or military detention, pointing to the lengthy incarceration of a Palestinian American 16-year-old boy from Florida.<\/a><\/p>\n Advocates hoped the resolution would help them accomplish much larger aims, however. Under U.S. law, the government is forbidden from selling arms to countries that engage in \u201ca consistent pattern of gross violations\u201d of human rights. Van Hollen\u2019s resolution asks whether Israel\u2019s actions fit that pattern.<\/p>\n In a policy paper published earlier this month, the pro-Palestine nonprofit IMEU Policy Project argued<\/a> that abiding by foreign assistance law \u201cwould require halting all arms exports to Israel, whether from private U.S. companies or the U.S. government, irrespective of whether purchases are paid for with U.S. or foreign funds.\u201d<\/p>\n Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mt., pointed to that larger aim when he argued against the resolution on the Senate floor.<\/p>\n \u201cMake no mistake: The sole objective here is not justice or accountability for Americans,\u201d Daines said. \u201cIt is to cut off security aid to our ally Israel in its time of need.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, any loss, all loss of American life is a tragedy,\u201d Daines continued, adding that he was \u201cvery confident this administration will get to the bottom of this issue.\u201d<\/p>\nSetting Up an Embargo<\/h2>\n