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Three House Democrats<\/span> who collected thousands from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in recent election cycles have signed on to a bill that would block arms sales to Israel in the latest sign that support for the U.S. ally has become a political liability amid its ongoing genocide in Gaza.<\/p>\n The Block the Bombs to Israel Act would prohibit the Trump administration from providing Israel with specific U.S.-made weapons that the Israeli military has used in documented<\/a> war crimes against Palestinians. As the 2026 midterm elections near, the bill\u2019s backers are seeking to frame it as a litmus test for Democratic voters, who have long expressed support<\/a> for such restrictions.<\/p>\n Rep. Valerie Foushee, D-N.C., who was first elected to the House in 2022 while riding more than $800,00 in campaign donations from AIPAC, signed on to the bill on August 6. The next day, she pledged her campaign would not take AIPAC money during the 2026 midterms, as first reported by Indy Week<\/a>. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Other AIPAC recipients who are co-sponsoring the bill include Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, who received $46,000 from AIPAC in 2022 and Rep. Jonathan Jackson, D-Ill., who took $15,000 in 2022 and 2024, according to campaign finance data.\u00a0<\/p>\n During a town hall meeting held at a high school gym in her district in El Paso on Saturday, Escobar acknowledged that she had taken AIPAC money \u201cearly on\u201d but said she no longer accepts the lobbying group\u2019s donations.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI had AIPAC support early on in my elected life \u2014 I do not receive AIPAC support, it\u2019s been years,\u201d she said when an attendee drew applause asking her about her ties to AIPAC and what she is doing to halt the genocide in Gaza. She pointed out that she was among the first co-sponsors of the Block the Bombs bill.\u00a0<\/p>\n The bill\u2019s lead sponsor, Democratic Rep. Delia Ramirez of Illinois, praised her colleagues for supporting the bill and expressed hope that their stances signaled a loosening of AIPAC\u2019s powerful grip<\/a> on the Democratic Party<\/a> in Congress<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s incredibly courageous and I think so much of the leadership of folks like Val and Veronica to say, \u2018Look, you may have given money to my campaign, but I am taking a stance that is correct, and the stance as a leader and representative I must take, and the stance my constituents call on me to take,\u201d said Ramirez, who was elected in 2022 and has not taken AIPAC funding.<\/p>\n The shift is likely to be politically expedient for many Democrats: A poll<\/a> from January showed that a third of voters who cast ballots for Joe Biden in 2020 but not for Kamala Harris in 2024 said \u201cending Israel\u2019s violence in Gaza\u201d was the main issue deciding their vote.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Block the Bombs<\/span> bill had 12 co-sponsors when it was rolled out in June, including the band of progressives known as the Squad and some prominent Jewish lawmakers, like Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., and Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill. It has since swelled to 37, with four representatives signing on on Friday, including ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., who is running for Senate to fill outgoing Democratic Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin\u2019s seat.<\/p>\n Most of the recent momentum behind the bill coincided with Congress\u2019s summer recess, when lawmakers leave D.C. and return to their home districts. It\u2019s at home where lawmakers have felt the most pressure from their constituents around Israel\u2019s war in Gaza, said Beth Miller, political director of Jewish Voice for Peace Action, one of the groups backing Block the Bombs. She pointed to a pair of votes Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., forced on two resolutions<\/a> to block some weapons transfers to Israel. Both failed \u2014 blocking military aid to Israel is still far from a mainstream position in D.C. \u2014 but, with margins of 27-70<\/a> and 24-73,<\/a> still drew record-high Democratic support.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen senators went home, if they voted the wrong way, they were getting angry outreach from their constituents about \u2018Why would you have tried to continue sending bombs to Israel?\u2019\u201d Miller said.\u00a0<\/p>\n She also noted the frosty reception Rep. Wesley Bell received last week at a St. Louis, Missouri, town hall, where Bell\u2019s constituents grilled him over his support for Israel and relationship with AIPAC. St. Louis Magazine<\/a> reported that protesters yelled \u201cWesley Bell loves killing children,\u201d and \u201cWesley Bell loves bombs and rockets.\u201d The town hall ended with security guards and police officers forcing attendees out of the building, and video<\/a> of the incident<\/a> showed a security guard grabbing an attendee by their hair and other officers tackling people to the ground.<\/p>\n Bell was elected to the House last year, when he unseated incumbent Israel critic Rep. Cori Bush in an election heavily influenced by AIPAC. The group poured $8 million into Bell\u2019s campaign<\/a>, on top of contributions from the Democratic Majority for Israel PAC.<\/p>\n In late July, as images<\/a> of starving<\/a> Palestinian children in Gaza circulated<\/a> in the mainstream news<\/a>, Bell made a statement uncharacteristically critical statement<\/a> of Israel. \u201cI\u2019ve always supported Israel\u2019s right to exist and defend itself,\u201d he wrote on social media. \u201cBut supporting this government\u2019s actions\u2014allowing children to starve and firing on civilians seeking food\u2014is something I can\u2019t stand by. This isn\u2019t self-defense. It must stop.\u201d<\/p>\n Yet at his town hall, Bell defended AIPAC, dismissing criticism against them as \u201cpropaganda.\u201d He likened the conservative pro-Israel lobby to interest groups focused on reproductive rights or clean energy and said that \u201ceveryone should be able to participate\u201d in the electoral process.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bell did not respond to The Intercept\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n