Sens. Schiff and Padilla continue arming Israel, ignoring genocide, famine | Opinion
Californians of all backgrounds have repeatedly called on our representatives in Congress to do everything in their power to stop arming Israel and enabling its genocide in Gaza.
Last November, over 2,600 individuals and 80 organizations petitioned Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla to support Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Joint Resolutions of Disapproval to block the sale of $20 billion in offensive weaponry authorized by the Biden administration. They voted “no.”
On July 31, both of California’s Democratic senators once again ignored the calls of thousands of their constituents and voted “no” on a new set of Joint Resolutions of Disapproval that Sanders brought to a vote. This time, Padilla and Schiff ignored not only their constituents but also the majority of their Democratic Party colleagues in the Senate who — for the first time in U.S. history — voted to block the sale of specific offensive weapons to Israel.
On Aug. 14, 127 organizations — representing over 100,000 Californians of all backgrounds, ethnicities and faiths — delivered a petition to Schiff and Padilla to let them know that their constituents will remember their votes and hold them accountable at town halls, their offices and at the ballot box. Two weeks later, activists led by Jewish Voice for Peace Action, among others, held sit-ins in the senators’ offices in Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego.
On Aug. 26, the Democratic National Committee voted down a resolution that called for an arms embargo on Israel and for the recognition of Palestinian statehood — despite the fact that 75% of Democratic voters oppose the U.S. sending more military aid to Israel and 77% of Democratic voters think Israel is committing genocide.
Why are Democratic elected officials and party leaders so disconnected from their base?
What could make Schiff and Padilla continuously ignore the genocide the Israeli government is committing against the Palestinian people, even when every single respected genocide scholar has said it is unquestionably a genocide, including two Israeli human rights organizations?
For Schiff, at least part of the answer appears to lie in the fact that he’s received at least $6,234,034 in support from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and other pro-Israel lobbying groups over his congressional career. That makes him the top recipient of pro-Israel political action committee and lobby funding among all currently sitting U.S. senators.
Meanwhile, Padilla has received a more modest amount of $104,055 from pro-Israel lobbying groups, with AIPAC as the largest direct contributor.
While our senators are trying to look away, over 2,000,000 Palestinians in Gaza are being starved to death, with U.S. support. Over the last 21 months, Israel has obliterated civilian life in Gaza, attacking over 92% of homes and 95% of schools and decimating the health care system.
The World Food Program recently reported that one in three people in Gaza go without food for days at a time and over 132,000 children under age 5 are suffering from acute, severe malnutrition — the harshest diagnosis that there is likely no return from.
On July 29, Schiff and Padilla signed a letter stating that “deaths due to starvation, especially among children, are increasing” and urging a “large-scale expansion of humanitarian assistance and services throughout the Gaza Strip.” But what is the point of words without action?
Withholding military assistance to Israel is not just the right thing to do — it is the legal thing to do. In 2021, the U.S. withheld $225 million in funding from Egypt and paused the sale of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia due to these countries’ human rights records.
As Californians who believe in the sanctity of every human life, we are fed up — but not giving up. Those in power must be hold accountable for enabling the genocide of the Palestinians.
To Schiff and Padilla: It is never too late to do what is right.
Yoana Tchoukleva is a civil rights attorney, community organizer and restorative justice facilitator based in Oakland. She serves as Bay Area vice chair of the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party and leads the congressional advocacy work of the California Palestine Solidarity Coalition. Myriam Sabbaghi is the national organizing director at the National Iranian American Council. Amin Nash, the policy and research coordinator at the Arab American Civil Council based in Anaheim, also contributed to this piece.
This story was originally published September 5, 2025 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Sens. Schiff and Padilla continue arming Israel, ignoring genocide, famine | Opinion."