Jewish Democrat Jamie Raskin joins list of lawmakers backing bill to restrict arms transfers to Israel
The Block the Bombs Act is now sponsored by 34 House Democrats
Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, questions General Services Administration Administrator Robin Carnahan as she testifies before a House Oversight and Accountability Committee oversight hearing on the GSA in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington D.C., Nov. 14, 2023. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
(JTA) — Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Jewish Democrat in Maryland, has joined a growing list of Democrats backing a bill that would withhold the transfer of offensive weapons to Israel from the United States.
Raskin’s backing of the Block the Bombs Act last week comes amid a marked decline in Democratic support for Israel, as the war in Gaza wages on for its 22nd month.
Other prominent Jewish Democratic lawmakers, including Rep. Sara Jacobs of California, Rep. Becca Balint of Vermont and Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, have also signed onto the legislation, which now has 34 sponsors.
Backing for the Block the Bombs Act among House Democrats follows record support from Senate Democrats for two resolutions blocking U.S. military sales to Israel last month. (The resolutions failed in the Republican-led Senate.)
Raskin was one of the first Jewish Democrats to depart from norms around support for Israel during the Israel-Hamas war. In November 2023, just one month into the war in Gaza, Raskin was one of the first Jewish Democratic House lawmakers to call for a ceasefire. In May 2024, he and Jacobs voted against sending additional emergency aid to Israel. And last December, he signed onto a letter to the Biden administration along with 76 other House Democrats accusing Israel of violating U.S. arms sales law.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
