Farhat Leads Letter Urging Senators Slotkin and Peters to Block Sale of Military Weapons to Israel

LANSING, Mich., April 15, 2026 – State Rep. Alabas Farhat (D-Dearborn) sent a letter today to U.S. Sens. Elissa Slotkin and Gary C. Peters urging them to support U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ joint resolutions of disapproval to block the proposed sale of $151.8 million in 1,000-pound “dumb” gravity bombs and $295 million in Caterpillar D9 bulldozers to the Israeli government. According to Sanders and Farhat, these weapons have been used in the demolition of homes in Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank.

“The war [with Iran] costs a billion dollars a day,” Farhat wrote in the letter. “Every day that it continues is a day we are choosing bombs over the basic needs of working families. The people we represent are not asking for much. They want to be able to afford a home, take their child to the doctor, and send their kids to a good school. Those things are not radical. They are the bare minimum. And we cannot keep pretending there is no money for them while we write endless checks for foreign wars that make us less safe and solve nothing.”

Farhat argues Sanders’ resolutions are one of the clearest and most direct tools for Congress to reassert its authority. According to the Foreign Assistance Act, arms transfers must be consistent with recognized human rights standards and must advance the foreign policy interests of the United States.

“The Trump administration has moved to bypass Congress entirely, invoking emergency authority to push through the sale of thousands of bombs to Israel in the middle of an illegal, unconstitutional war with Iran,” Farhat continued. “This is an affront to Congressional authority and a betrayal of the American people. These bombs have been directly implicated in the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran. Israel has also used bulldozers to demolish homes, contributing to the forcible displacement of more than 3 million people in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon.”

Farhat also commended Slotkin and Peters for supporting a war powers resolution to end President Trump’s war with Iran, and said backing Sanders’ resolutions would be a logical next step toward a broader commitment to peace.

The letter has received support from more than 50 Michigan state senators, representatives, mayors, council members, and other local officials and community leaders. The full letter is viewable here.

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