U.S. Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock voted Thursday to reject an effort to block $8.8 billion in arms sales to Israel for its war with Hamas. The move comes months after the two Georgia Democrats supported a separate push to restrict weapons transfers to the U.S. ally.
Both measures, which were overwhelmingly defeated, were brought by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont liberal who has led efforts to limit military aid since Israel’s invasion of Gaza began after the surprise October 2023 attack.
Warnock didn’t immediately comment. Ossoff said the measures, which were never going to pass the Republican-controlled Senate, could hinder ongoing negotiations to release dozens of hostages held captive by Hamas since the attack.
“In my judgment, passing these resolutions would have been damaging,” Ossoff told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “This may be the last window of opportunity to achieve the release of all surviving hostages and restore a ceasefire. Support for that diplomacy has to be our focus.”
The vote marked a shift for both Georgia senators — and came after months of quiet outreach from Ossoff, Georgia’s first Jewish U.S. senator, to religious leaders and pro-Israel groups amid growing unease within the state’s Jewish community.
Back in November, Ossoff and Warnock were among a small group of Democratic U.S. senators who backed Sanders’ resolutions to limit certain arms sales to Israel that exposed internal divisions among Democrats and Georgia’s Jewish community over the war. For Ossoff, who faces a tough 2026 reelection, the fallout was immediate and personal.
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
The rabbi of Ossoff’s childhood synagogue and Israel’s consul general in Atlanta were among those who denounced his vote. Dozens of Jewish institutions joined the criticism, and some community leaders made overtures to Gov. Brian Kemp and other potential Republican candidates to challenge Ossoff.
Others, including more than 100 Jewish Georgians, signed a letter praising both Democrats for advocating “regional stability, security and peace.”
At the time, Ossoff explained his dissenting votes in a floor speech by invoking Republican President Ronald Reagan’s decision to block the sale of cluster-type artillery shells to Israel in 1982 to protect innocent lives.
“And Israel, faced by President Reagan’s ultimatum, adjusted its policy to accommodate America’s demand. The United States remained Israel’s closest ally, and the world kept turning,” Ossoff said.
Since then, the international landscape has changed. Two months after a ceasefire collapsed, Israel has expanded its military offensive in Gaza in a bid to recover at least 59 remaining hostages still held by Hamas and its allies. Inside Israel, pressure is also mounting to bring the fighting to a close, with new ceasefire negotiations underway.
Ossoff, a member of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee with access to classified national security briefings, has worked to repair relationships along the way.
He and top aides have held private meetings with prominent Jewish leaders, including a recent session with members of the pro-Israel AIPAC lobbying group. Several who criticized him in November praised his vote this week.
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Democratic state Rep. Esther Panitch, the lone Jewish member of the state Legislature, called Ossoff a “disappointment” in November and questioned whether she would vote for him. On Thursday, she said she was grateful he and Warnock “listened to Jewish Georgians.”
“The Jewish community has been really upset about all those votes since November and to Ossoff’s credit he’s shown a willingness to engage with us,” said Alli Medof, another Jewish community leader. “And these votes send an important message to his Jewish and pro-Israel constituents.”
Still, the divide remains. Earlier Thursday, a coalition of progressive Jewish activists penned a letter to Ossoff urging him to support Sanders’ resolution and accusing Israel of “indiscriminate, large-scale violence against innocent Palestinian civilians.”
Ossoff and Warnock were among four Senate Democrats who flipped their vote after backing Sanders’ efforts in November. The other two are U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Angus King of Maine.
Republicans, meanwhile, made clear the issue isn’t going away. Nick Puglia of the National Republican Senatorial Committee accused Ossoff of “scrambling now as he prepares to face voters next year.”
“Georgia’s Jewish community won’t forget Ossoff didn’t stand with them when they needed him most, and they deserve a Senator who will always fight for them.”
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