Three House Democrats 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.

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 war crimes against Palestinians. As the 2026 midterm elections near, the bill’s backers are seeking to frame it as a litmus test for Democratic voters, who have long expressed support for such restrictions.

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.

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.

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 “early on” but said she no longer accepts the lobbying group’s donations.

“I had AIPAC support early on in my elected life — I do not receive AIPAC support, it’s been years,” 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.

The bill’s 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’s powerful grip on the Democratic Party in Congress.

“I think it’s incredibly courageous and I think so much of the leadership of folks like Val and Veronica to say, ‘Look, 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,” said Ramirez, who was elected in 2022 and has not taken AIPAC funding.

The shift is likely to be........

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