Fetterman breaks ranks as Senate blocks investigation into 9 Americans killed in West Bank

The United States Senate voted on Tuesday to stop a proposal that would have forced an official report into the deaths of nine Americans in the occupied West Bank. Lawmakers defeated the measure in a tight 47 to 53 decision.

Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen sponsored the attempt, pointing out a “lack of accountability” from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. He also cited that neither the current administration nor the previous one did enough for Palestinian-Americans.

“The Biden administration did not do enough to secure justice, and the Trump administration has not done enough,” Van Hollen said according to The Intercept. “And if we can’t get accountability and justice for American citizens, imagine how hard it is for Palestinian families who don’t have a U.S. passport to get justice and accountability when they are killed or their villages get razed.”

Fetterman voted against the party line

Partisan discipline held strong for almost every member on the floor. Only two senators crossed the aisle. Pennsylvania Democratic Senator John Fetterman voted against the measure, while Kentucky Republican Rand Paul chose to support it.

Fetterman is known as an ardent defender of Israel. Furthermore, one of the nine Americans killed in the West Bank is one of Fetterman’s constituents in Pennsylvania.

He is also friendly with the Republican Party. He even provided a video for Trump-a-palooza, the GOP midterm convention earlier this September.

Van Hollen forced the action by tapping into a 1961 foreign assistance law. That rule lets any lawmaker demand a formal human rights review for nations getting American security aid.

Demanding answers for Americans killed

The rejected plan would have given the State Department 30 days to hand over an unclassified report. It aimed to detail investigations into American deaths, review citizens held in Israeli prisons, and examine conditions for Palestinian children in military detention.

Nine American citizens have died in the occupied West Bank since January 2022. Among them was Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist and Al Jazeera correspondent who was shot in the head while reporting in Jenin in May 2022.

Despite the defeat, Van Hollen took to social media to argue that his coalition is growing stronger.

“Tonight, 47 Senators supported my resolution to get accountability for the 9 Americans killed on the West Bank and for Palestinians who face injustices daily. That’s more support than we’ve ever had in this fight,” he wrote on social media. “Republicans blocked us, but we won’t stop until we get justice.”

This article is made and published by Daniel Wolfram, who may have used AI in the preparation