The Senate on Wednesday blocked a Democratic bid to cancel arms sales to Israel, but the party’s concerns over the war against Iran widened its rift over arming the longtime U.S. ally.

Progressive senators led by Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, have long been critical of robust American aid for Israel’s military. But several Democrats who in the past had opposed efforts by Mr. Sanders and others to block U.S. arms transfers changed course and registered their disapproval of the sale of armored bulldozers and 12,000 bombs.

On Wednesday, 36 Democrats voted to take up a measure that would block the sale of the 1,000-pound bombs, while 40 Democrats voted in favor of a measure to bar the sale of the bulldozers that Israel has used to level entire neighborhoods in Gaza and Lebanon. Roughly a dozen more Democrats voted for those measures than have voted for similar ones in the past.

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Among the converts were Senators Maria Cantwell of Washington; Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly of Arizona; Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff of California; Elissa Slotkin of Michigan; and Ron Wyden of Oregon.