While Sen. Alex Padilla has been praised for his staunch opposition to the Trump administration’s immigration policy, many are criticizing his unwavering support of Israel as mass starvation and devastation overtake Gaza.
Since October 2023, around 60,000 Palestinians have been killed, including over 18,000 children, and more than 143,000 have been injured in Gaza and the West Bank. This number does not include the thousands more who remain unaccounted for under the rubble or who have died from hunger, dehydration and untreated wounds.
Yet, on July 30, Padilla and Sen. Adam Schiff were two of 16 Democrats who voted against halting arms sales to Israel. The majority of Senate Democrats, 27 others, voted in favor of supporting the two Joint Resolutions of Disapproval introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders.
The resolutions would have blocked a $675.7 million weapons deal that includes 1,000-pound MK 83 bombs and more than 5,000 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kits, as well as prevent the transfer of tens of thousands of fully automatic assault rifles to Israeli forces and police.
The United States has continuously supplied Israel with weapons since the 1970s – weapons which have recently been used to conduct attacks on Palestinians in Gaza. Israel is the single largest recipient of U.S. military financing at $3.8 billion per year, which makes up about 15% of the nation’s defense budget.
The California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CA), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, condemned the local senators for voting to continue “arming Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza.”
“We commend the 27 Senators who took a principled stand against arming genocide. Their votes reflect a shift toward accountability that aligns with the will of the American people,” said CAIR-CA CEO Hussam Ayloush. “Sens. Padilla and Schiff had a choice – and they chose to side with war crimes and apartheid, despite months of appeals from Californians demanding justice.”
International human rights organizations – including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), the International Court of Justice and B’Tselem – increasingly agree that Israel’s conduct meets the legal definition of genocide.
The Israeli blockade on humanitarian aid entering Gaza is creating a manmade famine. Hunger is worsening and millions of Palestinians are facing starvation and accelerated death. As of the start of August, 82 adults starved to death over five weeks, and 93 children have passed away from malnutrition.
On July 30, Padilla joined a group of 40 Senators in sending a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, calling for an expansion of humanitarian aid in Gaza and the resumption of diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire and end the war.
“The acute humanitarian crisis in Gaza is also unsustainable and worsens by the day. Hunger and malnutrition are widespread, and, alarmingly, deaths due to starvation, especially among children, are increasing,” the senators wrote. “We urge you to advocate for a large-scale expansion of humanitarian assistance and services throughout the Gaza Strip, including through the use of experienced multilateral bodies and NGOs that can get life-saving aid directly to those in need and prevent diversion.”
They ended the letter with: “We stand in strong support of diplomatic efforts to return all hostages, end the fighting in Gaza, and bring humanitarian relief for the safety and prosperity of the Israeli and the Palestinian people.”
However, the same day Padilla signed the letter, he voted to increase the supply of military aid to Israel.
Some have tied Padilla and Schiff’s unwillingness to cut weapons sales to Israel to the fact that they received money from political lobbyists.
The senators are among many local officials who have received funding – Padilla ($30,850) and Schiff ($6,234,034) – from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a pro-Israel lobby group. Others include San Fernando Valley U.S. Representatives Luz Rivas ($55,450), Brad Sherman ($777,883) and Laura Friedman ($16,250).
A poll conducted last year by the Pew Research Center suggests Americans are divided in their views of U.S. military aid to Israel, with a significant difference among age groups. Support for military aid is strongest among older generations (65 and older) and weakest among younger adults (18-29).
But, as the Palestinian’s suffering continues to be live broadcast internationally on social media, it may be more difficult for American politicians to blindly fund Israel’s war on Gaza.
Even Padilla’s high school teacher wrote to him saying that “Israel has gone too far in retaliation for the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas” and further questioned Padilla about why his name was not among the list of Democrats who voted to curb military aid.
I am pleased that Senator Padilla’s high school teacher wrote him to inquire why he would do such a thing as support continued military armament to Israel when Netanyahu has proven he is a rogue steward of ethical war tactics,
I am also wondering why a good man like Padilla would do this.
He and Senator Schiff should be media pressured to explain this vote.
This is a serious moral dereliction and would be more so if motivated by PAC money.
Yeah OK no mention of Israeli hostages? Do Israeli lives matter or do they just sit back while Intifada stabs then from behind? Israelis are not going to watch auicide bombers at pizza parlors and weddings. Shame on you to hide the truth that Israel has a right to once and for all end the abuse of the terror regimes which you fail to call out. It is the terror you think is soluble and admissible for whatever reason and the senator clearly has some sense of morality while you do not.