Haaretz
WASHINGTON — More than half of the Democratic senators currently in office have spoken out in recent weeks against Israeli annexation of settlements in the West Bank. Together with the opposition to annexation expressed by former Vice President Joe Biden, the senators’ statements on the subject show that annexation could harm Israel’s standing with Democratic politicians and voters.
As of Monday, at least 28 of the 47 Democrats in the Senate have expressed their opposition to annexation, most of them by sending letters on the subject to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz. A Democratic source in the Senate told Haaretz that more lawmakers are expected to make similar statements against annexation in the coming days.
Out of the 28 senators who have so far expressed opposition to annexation, 19 did so in a joint letter to Netanyahu and Gantz last month, which was led by Senators Tim Kaine, Chris Murphy and Chris Van Hollen. The letter was also signed by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, the runner-up in this year’s Democratic presidential nomination contest, and Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Baldwin and Tammy Duckworth, both of whom have been mentioned recently as potential running mates for Biden.
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