When Congresswoman Delia Ramirez first announced her anti-bomb bill, which would impose a partial embargo on arms shipments from the United States to Israel, only 21 Democrats joined her in supporting the bill.
That was in June 2025. One year later, the bill now has 73 co-sponsors, a number that Palestinian rights advocates say represents “historic” progress.
Recommended stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
“Some people thought this bill was extreme, but it’s actually pretty mainstream,” Ramirez said Thursday at a news conference at the Capitol.
Seventy-three lawmakers are backing a bill that would limit arms to Israel, a move that would crack the near-unanimous bipartisan support Israel has enjoyed in Congress for decades.
Still, this number falls short of a majority in the 435-member House of Representatives.
Margaret Dereus, executive director of the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU), said it was important to “show progress” on such legislation, stressing that more MPs should stand with the majority of voters who reject unconditional aid to Israel.
“We are coming out of such a deficit because Congress has so lacked the courage to do the right thing, which is actually a huge improvement from where we were,” Delois told Al Jazeera.
“We clearly still have a long, long way to go.”
Although Congress remains largely pro-Israel, advocates are calling on lawmakers to better reflect the changing views of the American people. Polls show that Israel is rapidly losing support.
In a recent survey by the Institute of International Studies, only 16% of respondents agreed that the United States should continue to supply weapons to Israel without new restrictions.
“Americans want us to invest at home.”
Ramirez on Thursday cited multiple Israeli military operations across the Middle East to emphasize the need to bring his bill to the House floor for a vote.
But so far, the bill has been blocked by House Republican leadership.
The congressman also blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump for their roles in the Iran war, Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, and the rising death toll in Gaza, where Israel continues to carry out deadly attacks despite a “ceasefire.”
“Trump and Netanyahu will continue to escalate the war because they continue to consolidate power, stay in power, and continue to profit from our pain,” Ramirez said.
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib also emphasized that questioning the U.S. government’s support for Israel is no longer taboo, highlighting the growing public awareness of Israeli abuses.
“Americans want us to invest domestically. They want us to not invest in death and destruction and bombs. They want us to invest in clean water, housing, child care, things like that,” Tlaib told reporters.
“So many people can’t even afford to go to the doctor. Yet we will quickly find the funds to continue helping the Israeli government bomb civilians.”
The Palestinian-American congressman credited the growing support for the bill to the public, saying change comes from the people, not from Congress.
“Ordinary citizens who don’t share my faith or ethnicity are showing up at City Hall and saying, ‘Why are you cutting SNAP and why are you starving Gazans?'” Tlaib said, referring to food assistance programs for low-income families.
“You’ve seen them come and say, ‘Why are we funding genocide but not domestic health care?'”
Contents of the bill
The Bomb Interdiction Act would ban the transfer to Israel of certain heavy bombs and artillery ammunition, weapons used in some of the deadliest attacks during Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.
The bill got its start in Congress with initial backers among progressives and vocal critics of Israel. But as outrage over Israeli atrocities in Gaza and across the region grows louder, an unexpected name has been added to the list of co-sponsors.
Rep. Valerie Fouthie, who was elected to Congress in 2022 with support from pro-Israel groups such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), co-sponsored the bill last year.
In August 2025, Houthi said: “We absolutely cannot continue to provide arms to the Israeli government if they are not used in accordance with international law to maximize the protection of civilians in the Gaza Strip.”
In May, AIPAC congratulated Representative Christian Menefe, who defeated his Texas colleague Al Green in a primary contest between two Democratic incumbents as a result of redistricting.
Menefee on Tuesday became the latest co-sponsor of the Block the Bomb Act.
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, who lost his primary to a challenger backed by Trump and pro-Israel groups, also joined the bill this week, making it bipartisan.
“Israel has killed tens of thousands of innocent civilians using U.S.-supplied munitions,” Massey said.
“The United States has a moral obligation to stop supporting Israel’s devastation of Gaza and its residents. I am co-sponsoring the Stop the Bomb Act, which would restrict the transfer of offensive weapons to Israel.”
changes in parliament
The Congressional Progressive Caucus also supported the bill. On Thursday, Speaker Greg Cassar said the growing support shows that you can make a difference by speaking out, marching and reaching out to your constituents.
“It’s clear that if we want to save lives, we not only need to confront Republicans, we need to change who we are as Democrats,” Cassar said.
“The idea behind the Bomb Interdiction Act is simple: The United States should not supply bombs that we know will be used to perpetuate one of the worst disasters of our lifetime.”
The lawmakers stressed that despite the ceasefire, Israel still restricts humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territories, and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues.
Rep. Latifa Simon said support for the bill should not be a partisan issue.
“We must be clear, not red or blue, that as Americans we should give humanitarian aid more than bombs, especially when hundreds of thousands of children, women and the elderly are going hungry and living in squalid conditions,” Simon said.
“We’re funding that humanitarian crisis. I think all I have to say is one word: Stop the bomb.”
The one-year anniversary of the Bomb Interdiction Act comes as other bills calling into question the relationship between the United States and Israel gain momentum.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a resolution condemning the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran and curbing President Trump’s authority to attack Iran without Congressional approval.
Forty out of 100 senators, including an overwhelming majority of Democrats, also voted in April to block the transfer of military bulldozers to Israel.
Beth Miller, political director of the advocacy group Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Action, said the increased support for the bomb-stopping law was driven by the work of the Palestinian rights movement in the United States.
However, she noted that the number of co-sponsors remains “horribly low.”
“The fact that a majority of members of Congress want to send bombs into a country that is still committing genocide shows how far we have to go,” Miller said.
“That’s why we’re all going to keep speaking out. It’s time for all of us in Congress to act. It’s time to stop the bomb.”
