NEW YORK — Nearly 100 protesters were arrested during a demonstration Monday calling on US Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand to block the sale of thousands of US bombs to Israel.
Led by the anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace, the crowd of hundreds initially attempted to stage a sit-in inside the Manhattan offices of the two Democratic lawmakers they accused of abetting Israel’s intensifying attacks on Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the US-Israeli war on Iran.
A shaky ceasefire between Israel, the US, and Iran was reached last week.
After demonstrators were blocked by security from entering the building, they stopped traffic outside, chanting “fund people, not bombs” as they were arrested and loaded onto three buses.
Among the 90 people taken into custody were whistleblower Chelsea Manning, actor Hari Nef and New York City Council Member Alexa Avilés, according to a JVP spokesperson.
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The demonstration focused on a set of resolutions introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders that could block the sale of more than $600 million in bombs to Israel.
Similar measures previously introduced by Sanders, an independent from Vermont, have failed. But the most recent effort this past summer drew support from more than half of Senate Democrats amid widespread hunger and suffering in Gaza. Schumer and Gillibrand were not among them.
Protesters with Jewish Voice for Peace block traffic during a demonstration outside the New York office of US Sen. Chuck Schumer, calling for an end to the U.S.-Israel war with Iran and opposing U.S. weapons support on Monday, April 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Protesters on Monday said Israel’s air and ground offensive in southern Lebanon, along with the larger US-Israeli war on Iran, added to the urgency of the vote, which is expected later this week.
“This is the moment when Schumer and Gillibrand must listen to their constituents,” said Sonya Meyerson-Knox, the communications director with Jewish Voice for Peace. “The majority of Americans and New Yorkers want a resolution to what the Israeli government is doing.”
Inquiries to Schumer and Gillibrand were not immediately returned.
Israel launched its campaign against Iran, alongside the US, on February 28 to degrade the Iranian regime’s military capabilities, distance threats posed by Iran, including its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, Israel’s military and other Israeli leaders have said.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah, operating in southern Lebanon, has been firing hundreds of rockets per day at Israel, according to the Israel Defense Forces, which has responded by targeting the Iran-backed terror group.
Iran and Hezbollah openly seek to destroy Israel.
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