Senate Vote Could End US Complicity in Israeli Home Demolitions Across Middle East

Trump Administration Rushes Bulldozers to Israel Despite Bipartisan Concerns

The Trump administration invoked emergency powers in February 2025 to bypass Congressional oversight and approve a $295 million sale of Caterpillar D9 bulldozers to Israel -- the same heavy machinery Israel uses to demolish Palestinian, Lebanese, and Syrian homes as part of what international law defines as forced displacement and ethnic cleansing.

Senator Bernie Sanders responded by introducing a Joint Resolution of Disapproval (S.J.Res.32) to block the sale. The resolution is expected to come up for a vote after the Senate's spring recess, giving senators a rare opportunity to stop US complicity in documented war crimes.

The Trump administration's emergency declaration circumvents the standard Congressional review process that would normally apply to major arms sales. The bulldozers will likely be paid for by American taxpayers through Foreign Military Financing.

A Pattern of Destruction Spanning Decades

Israel's misuse of American bulldozers isn't new -- it's a systematic practice spanning decades. According to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, Israel has bulldozed an estimated 61,805 Palestinian homes in the West Bank since its military occupation began in 1967. During Israel's establishment in 1948, it demolished 531 entire Palestinian villages to prevent refugees from returning.

But the scale of destruction since October 2023 is staggering. From October 2023 to October 2025, Israel damaged or destroyed an estimated 92% of Palestinian houses in Gaza. Before its ground invasion, the Israeli army stationed roughly 100 Caterpillar D9 bulldozers on Gaza's outskirts. These bulldozers played what observers called a "central role" in the demolition campaign. With a skilled operator, a single D9 can flatten a residential building to rubble in under an hour.

The destruction extends beyond Gaza. Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz recently vowed to demolish all Lebanese homes in villages near the Israeli border. Israel has already forcibly displaced more than one million Lebanese civilians through home demolitions and infrastructure destruction. In Syria, Israel is using bulldozers to destroy homes in occupied territory as well.

Clear Violations of US Law

Supplying Israel with these bulldozers violates multiple US laws. The Arms Export Control Act strictly limits the use of US weapons to internal security and legitimate self-defense. Wanton destruction of civilian homes for forced displacement falls outside these narrow legal uses.

The Foreign Assistance Act prohibits delivering US weapons to any country that engages in systematic patterns of gross human rights violations and blocks US humanitarian aid -- both of which Israel does.

More than 60 Members of Congress wrote to the State Department in 2020 asking it to investigate Israel's potential violation of the Arms Export Control Act for using bulldozers to forcibly displace Palestinians from East Jerusalem by demolishing their houses.

The Biden administration briefly acknowledged these concerns. In November 2024, it froze bulldozer deliveries to Israel due to concerns about home demolitions in Gaza -- one of the very few times the Biden administration withheld any weapons despite expediting billions of dollars in other military aid. But the freeze was short-lived. The Biden administration reversed course in January 2025, allowing the delivery to proceed in July 2025.

Americans Oppose Weapons Sales to Israel

Public opinion strongly opposes continued weapons deliveries to Israel. A Quinnipiac University poll from August 2025 found that 60% of Americans oppose sending more weapons to Israel, while only 32% support doing so. Among Democratic voters, opposition is even stronger: 75% oppose sending more weapons, while only 18% support it.

Americans increasingly question why their tax dollars fund the destruction of homes abroad when the US faces a shortfall of 7 million affordable homes domestically.

A History Written in Blood

The human cost of these bulldozers is measured in lives as well as homes. During the 108th Congress, 78 Representatives sponsored a resolution calling for an independent US investigation into Israel's killing of US citizen Rachel Corrie. Corrie was run over and killed by an Israeli soldier operating a Caterpillar D9 bulldozer as he demolished Palestinian homes in Rafah.

Israel's use of American bulldozers to demolish homes constitutes forced displacement -- a war crime under international law. The systematic nature of these demolitions, spanning decades and multiple territories, reveals a deliberate policy rather than isolated incidents.

What Happens Next

The Senate vote on S.J.Res.32 will determine whether the United States continues supplying the tools for these demolitions. Sanders has also introduced a companion resolution to block bomb sales to Israel.

Senators face a straightforward choice: vote to uphold US law and international humanitarian law by blocking the bulldozer sale, or vote to continue American complicity in the forced displacement of millions of people from their homes.

The Trump administration's use of emergency powers to rush this sale suggests it anticipated Congressional opposition. Now Congress has the chance to prove that concern justified.