‘Israel’s righteous war of self-defense’: Daines says human rights report on West Bank violence is ‘misguided,’ ‘one-sided’

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Washington, D.C. — Montana Republican Senator Steve Daines spoke on the U.S. Senate floor in opposition to Senate Resolution 852 on Sept. 29.

The resolution aimed to require the U.S. Department of State to submit a report within 30 days detailing human rights conditions in the West Bank and investigating the deaths of nine American citizens in the area in 2022. If passed, under the Foreign Assistance Act, failure to provide the report could have triggered future restrictions on U.S. security assistance to Israel.

The motion failed by a vote of 47 to 51, blocked primarily by Republicans along party lines.

“This is a misguided resolution,” Daines said on the Senate floor. “The Democrats are trying to distort reality for political gain. Make no mistake, the sole objective here is not justice or accountability for Americans, it is to cut off security aid to our ally Israel in its time of need.”

The resolution mentions at least nine U.S. citizens killed by “violent Israeli settlers or Israeli security forces in the West Bank.”

“Of course, any loss, all loss of American life is a tragedy,” Daines said, referencing U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, a Republican, who explicitly condemned killings and violent attacks against Palestinian Americans by Israeli settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

“Ambassador Huckabee has called for an investigation into these deaths and I’m very confident this administration will get to the bottom of this issue,” Daines said. “But this one-sided resolution shames one of our strongest allies and minimizes the Palestinian authorities’ role in inciting terrorist violence.

“Rather than any serious attempt at accountability or justice, this is sadly another cynical ploy by Democrats to isolate our closest ally in the region and to turn Israel’s righteous war of self-defense into a domestic political issue as we’re now a little over 30 days from an election. For these reasons I urge my colleagues to vote no on this resolution so we can stand with our ally Israel as they beat back the scourge of Iranian-backed terrorism.”

The resolution was introduced by Democratic Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen and cosponsored by Democratic Virginia Senator Tim Kaine and Vermont Democratic socialist Senator Bernie Sanders, among others.

“There has been zero accountability, no justice for… families, no one held accountable,” Van Hollen said on the Senate floor, referencing the American citizens killed. “The U.S. government has repeatedly said that our number one priority overseas is to protect American citizens.

“American citizens have been killed time and again, in many cases with the complicity of the government of Israel. We to get answers because we need accountability, and we need accountability to make sure these killings end.”

While on the Senate floor, Kaine referenced Huckabee sharply condemning rising extremist Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

“Obviously that should raise serious concerns, but when the violence is also perpetrated against Americans… we need to take specific steps to make sure we understand that there (should) be accountability,” Kaine said. “That’s what this resolution would do. It would require the Department of State within a set period… to issue a human rights report.

“Even though this is a friendship that matters and even though the U.S. is Israel’s most important security partner, they are completely ignoring us when we raise important human rights issues.”

“As the American people observe what is going on in Gaza… the West Bank, they are (becoming) more disgusted and demanding the U.S. Congress act,” Sanders said. “My view? No more aid to the genocidal government of Netanyahu.”

Sanders referenced the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, which explicitly prohibits U.S. security assistance and arms sales to any government that engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.

“This violence does not even spare American citizens,” Sanders said. “Not one of those killings has led to real accountability. It’s time to end our complicity.”

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul was the only Republican to vote in favor of the resolution.

“It should not be controversial to say that Congress should know the circumstances of the deaths of our own citizens abroad,” Paul said, referencing a State Department report from 2024 stating Palestinian authorities and officials engaged in unlawful killings, torture and arbitrary arrests.

“Of course, we cannot forget the brutal attack perpetrated by Hamas on Oct. 7 2023,” Paul said on the Hamas-led terrorist assault against Israel, killing at least 1,200 people, mostly civilians and 49 U.S. citizens.