Israel breathed a small sigh of relief on Wednesday after a majority of US Senate Democrats joined Republicans in voting down a series of measures led by progressive Senator Bernie Sanders aimed at blocking weapons shipments to Jerusalem. While it was clear from the get-go that the Joint Resolutions of Disapproval were doomed to fail, given that only a handful of Democrats were needed to join Republicans, there was concern in Israel that progressive critics would succeed in rallying a majority of Democrats to their cause in what would have been a major testament to their strength within the party, a senior Israeli official told The Times of Israel on Thursday.