A US congressman has renewed a call for the Government’s proposed Occupied Territories Bill to be withdrawn. Democratic congressman Josh Gottheimer was behind a letter – cosigned by 22 other members of Congress – which was sent to Taoiseach Micheál Martin last October warning of damage to Irish-US relations if the Government proceeded with the legislation. With the Occupied Territories Bill due to be debated in the Dáil on Wednesday, Gottheimer has again called for the Bill to be withdrawn. In a post on X on Tuesday night, Gottheimer wrote: “In October, I led a bipartisan letter urging Ireland not to move forward with its Occupied Territories Bill” which he claimed is “an anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) measure.”He expressed his belief the Bill had been “shelved”, saying he had been “encouraged” by this but added: “Surprisingly, it’s now scheduled to be debated this week.”He argued: “Let’s be clear about what this bill is: a one-sided measure that singles out Israel while ignoring territorial disputes everywhere else in the world. “And, it could come with a real cost. US companies in Ireland could be forced to choose between complying with Irish law and complying with anti-boycott laws in thirty-eight American states.”Gottheimer added: “I continue to stand with my colleagues in urging them to withdraw the bill.”The Government’s proposed legislation – the Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2026 – aims to ban trade in goods between Ireland and illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. The Opposition has been highly critical that it will not also ban the trade in services as proposed in the original version of the Occupied Territories Bill. Last October, when Gottheimer and his fellow members of Congress wrote to the Taoiseach, the Attorney General was examining whether services could be brought under the ambit of the Bill.A US source told The Irish Times at the time: “From the US point of view there is no difference seen between boycotting just goods, versus both goods and services, either politically or legally.”Taoiseach Micheál Martin. Photograph: Savo Prelevic/ AFP via Getty Images [ Long-delayed Occupied Territories Bill to be brought to Cabinet but will exclude servicesOpens in new window ]On Tuesday, the Taoiseach was asked if he was aware of any US concerns since it was confirmed the Government’s Occupied Territories Bill was progressing.“There hasn’t been any increased tempo or anything like that in terms of any communications in respect of it,” Martin replied. “It’s quite clear that quite a number of people in the US will not be at one mind with us in respect of the Occupied Territories Bill.“But we’ll communicate the rationale behind it, that it is confined to the Occupied Territories, but also it’s largely, let’s be honest, a symbolic act because the amount of trade between the Occupied Territories in goods and Ireland is very, very, very low,” he said.He added: “This is more a symbolic act and I think what would be perhaps more telling is if we could, at European Union level, push for a suspension of the trade association agreement between Israel and the European Union. That perhaps will have a greater impact internationally on Israel.”[ Occupied Territories Bill becomes political test of Ireland’s stance on GazaOpens in new window ]