Arms embargo looms: Sanders and senators target Israel before Trump era begins

The US Senate is expected to vote on legislation on Wednesday to impose a partial arms embargo on Israel, initiated by several Democratic and independent senators.

According to senators, including independent Bernie Sanders, Israel has limited humanitarian aid to Gaza and has not fulfilled its international obligations.

The bill that will come up in the Senate tomorrow is unlikely to get a majority, much less pass the Republican-controlled House. The text of the law proposes blocking the sale of 120mm mortars and American precision missile kits supplied to Israel, systems that actually significantly reduce the collateral damage when attacking terrorist elements.

The precision missile system is mounted on the tail of the JDAM bomb, which converts a standard unguided bomb, using fins and a GPS guidance system into guided weapons.

"This war was fought almost entirely with American weapons and $18 billion in American taxpayer dollars. Israel dropped 2,000-pound bombs supplied by the U.S. into densely populated neighborhoods, killed hundreds of civilians to remove a handful of Hamas fighters, and made little effort to distinguish between civilians and combatants," Sanders said in a statement.

* Kikar Shabbat contributed to this article.