The U.S. Senate just sent a clear message to the world: America stands with Israel. In an overwhelming bipartisan vote, senators rejected two radical resolutions pushed by Sen. Bernie Sanders to block arms sales to our closest Middle Eastern ally. The vote wasn’t close—73–24 and 70–27. That’s not just a defeat for the hard-left anti-Israel caucus. That’s a political beatdown.

Let’s be honest: Sanders’ resolutions were never about peace. They were about pressuring Israel to stop defending itself from a genocidal terrorist organization—Hamas. Since October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a savage attack that killed 1,200 innocent Israelis and kidnapped over 250 others, Israel has been in a fight for its survival. And the left’s reaction? Try to tie the IDF’s hands behind its back.

Sanders had the audacity to claim that “American taxpayer dollars are being used to starve children, bomb schools, kill civilians.” That’s not just wrong—it’s disgraceful. It parrots Hamas propaganda and ignores the reality that Hamas uses civilians as human shields, stores weapons in hospitals, and launches rockets from residential neighborhoods.

As Senator Jim Risch rightly put it, these resolutions would “reinstate the failed policies of the Biden administration and would abandon America’s closest ally in the Middle East.” He’s exactly right. These aren’t policies of peace—they’re policies of weakness. And America under President Trump won’t go down that road again.

Let’s not forget the basic facts here. Israel didn’t ask for this war. Hamas did. They slaughtered civilians, took hostages, and then hid behind women and children expecting the world to blame Israel for the fallout. And in too many corners of the Western world, that twisted strategy is working.

Just look at the chorus of European leaders now clamoring to recognize a Palestinian state—France, the UK, Canada—all threatening to legitimize a so-called state that is either run by terrorists (in Gaza) or by corrupt, authoritarian officials (in the West Bank). French President Emmanuel Macron says Palestine must be “demilitarized” and “recognize Israel.” Good luck with that. Hamas has zero intention of laying down its arms, and the Palestinian Authority has never recognized Israel as a Jewish state.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nailed it when he said that recognizing a Palestinian state under current conditions “would reward terror.” He warned that it would become “another Iranian proxy” and a “launch pad to annihilate Israel.” That’s not hyperbole. That’s history. Every time Israel has ceded land or made concessions, it has been met with more violence, not peace.

And yet, Western leaders—comfortable in their ivory towers—are pushing forward with this fantasy of Palestinian statehood as if it’s some magic solution. It isn’t. It’s appeasement. And appeasement in the face of terror has never brought peace. It only invites more violence.

Here’s the truth the left refuses to admit: Peace in the Middle East doesn’t come from forcing Israel to retreat. It comes from defeating the terrorists who want to wipe Israel off the map. It comes from strength, not surrender. And it comes from standing firm with allies who share our values, not throwing them under the bus to score points with the global elite.

The Senate’s vote this week was a rare moment of clarity in Washington. Even in a divided America, a strong majority of senators understood what’s at stake. They refused to let anti-Israel rhetoric dictate U.S. foreign policy. They chose to stand with a democracy under siege, not with the sympathizers of jihadists.

Let’s make no mistake: the fight isn’t over. The left will keep pushing. The U.N. will keep posturing. And global elites will keep wringing their hands over Israel’s “disproportionate” response to terror. But America must remain steadfast. Israel is not just a strategic partner—it’s a moral ally. And in 2025, under President Trump, we’re finally back to treating our allies like allies and our enemies like enemies.

That’s the America the world needs. And that’s the America Israel—and freedom—can count on.