When Congresswoman Delia Ramirez first announced the Block the Bombs Act to impose a partial embargo against sending weapons from the United States to Israel, only 21 Democratic legislators joined her in supporting the measure.That was June 2025. One year later, the legislative proposal now has 73 co-sponsors, a tally that Palestinian rights supporters say represents “historic” progress.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list“While some thought that the bill was extreme, it has, in fact, become pretty mainstream,” Ramirez said at a news conference on Capitol Hill on Thursday.With 73 members backing the measure to restrict arms to Israel, the bill blows a crater in the nearly unanimous bipartisan support Israel has enjoyed in Congress over the decades.Still, the number does not come close to a majority in the 435-member House of Representatives.Margaret DeReus, the executive director at the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU), said it is important to “mark the progress” of such a bill, stressing that more lawmakers should side with the majority of voters in rejecting unconditional aid to Israel.“We are coming from such a deficit, where Congress has been so lacking in the courage to do what’s right, that this is actually a huge improvement from where we were,” DeReus told Al Jazeera.“There’s still obviously a long, long road ahead.”While Congress remains largely pro-Israel, advocates have called on its members to better reflect the shifting views of the US public. Multiple polls show that Israel …
