2w ago

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defends decision to support military aid for Israel

www.middleeasteye.net

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/33487836

By MEE staff
Published date: 21 July 2025 21:11 BST
The New York lawmaker voted against an amendment by Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene last week that sought to block $500m in Congress' annual defence spending bill for Israel's Iron Dome programme.
Fellow Democrats Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar [as well as Democrats Al Green of Texas, Summer Lee of Pennsylvania and Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky - PL] had supported Taylor Greene's amendment, which eventually lost in a 422-6 vote.
In a post on X on Saturday, Ocasio-Cortez claimed that Greene's amendment did "nothing to cut off offensive aid to Israel nor end the flow of US munitions being used in Gaza".

116 comments

AOC's post:
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s amendment does nothing to cut off offensive aid to Israel nor end the flow of US munitions being used in Gaza. Of course I voted against it.
What it does do is cut off defensive Iron Dome capacities while allowing the actual bombs killing Palestinians to continue.
I have long stated that I do not believe that adding to the death count of innocent victims to this war is constructive to its end. That is a simple and clear difference of opinion that has long been established.
I remain focused on cutting the flow of US munitions that are being used to perpetuate the genocide in Gaza.
- I'm not sure I understand this argument. Everything is essentially money. If America gives them funding for the Iron Dome, that leaves Israel with more money to buy offensive weapons.
  
  Exactly. Remember this when people claim we can turn the Democratic party with progessive candidates. The progressive candidates are the ones always turned by the Dems, not the other way around. It's their MO.
- So, this is a dumb explanation. It's like saying you would never support giving a knight a sword, just armor and a sheild. The armor and sheild are what let's him mow down peasants on the battlefield with impunity, you can't separate them out.
  That being said, this is getting fucking ridiculous. The amendment was never going to pass (it got 6 votes), so this was entirely symbolic. Beyond that, she voted against the defense spending bill it was attached to, so in end, she didn't support arms to anyone. She's also one of the strongest voices on Gaza in congress (an admittedly low bar); she's been voting against sending arms to Israel since before October 7th, she usually votes, "present," on Iron Dome funding, and she's called what's happening in Gaza a genocide on the House floor. I can count on one hand the number of U.S. politicians willing to say, "genocide," when talking about Israel. Behind Omar and Talib, she's probably the most reliable pro-Palestinian Representative.
  I'm assuming that she had some reason for voting against the amendment, and I assume it has to do with optics. Maybe she she thought siding with MTG would hurt her, maybe she thought voting against the Iron Dome would make her vulnerable to AIPAC attacks. It sucks, but Bowman and Bush both lost their seats to AIPAC money. The reality is you have to play politics sometimes, and if that means not making a symbolic vote for a doomed amendment, that's not the worst compromise to make.
- AOC is a beautifully blooming neoliberal, and it's time for all to stop worshipping her. She had proven over and over again that she'll vote for neo-liberal interests above all and justify it by wrapping it with a bow of humanity.
  Think of all the American lives that could be saved with that money before you justify spending on the iron dome to protect foreigners from the consequences of committing Genocide. AOC is not your friend.
  
  She's not a neo liberal... Maybe she'll become a liberal at worst
  I believe she's a good person, I believe she's a true blue progressive...I just think she has terrible political instincts. It seems like she's making backroom deals that don't benefit her positions or even herself
  I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed. And I don't think Bernie has been a good influence
  We need fighters, and it's been too long since she actually fought. I still think she'll be part of the solution, but she's not panning out into what I hoped she'd be
  
  Do you even know how to read? Read her actual response. This amendment does NOTHING to stop aid to Israel.
Cutting off defense seems like a dumb move and I agree with AOC on this. We should cease all offensive weaponry sales as that’s clearly being used in a god damn genocide.
- Cutting defense means they would have to shift the budget to defense.
  Moreover you're helping the aggressor protect itself against finding out the consequences of their own action.
  Fuck that noise.
  
  Okay, but on the other hand, if they stopped providing defence aid to israel, they could then say that they stopped financing them and did enough, so they don’t have to stop offence funding for their genocide
  
  Moreover you're helping the aggressor protect itself against finding out the consequences of their own action.
  You literally sound like the pro-genocide people with that statement.
- Funding is funding.
  Cut it all off.
- Why are we responsible for Israel's defense? they have free health care and education but our checkbook is open for iron dome missiles for them ? No. Thats American taxpayer money, not theirs. If they are rich enough to bribe the entire American government, then they are rich enough to buy their own missiles.
  
  I bet that the US gets a lot of intel about the other countries in the region in return.
According to her, she voted no to this bill. I’m very confused by this article.
- She didn't vote yes to the amendment to the bill to remove defensive funding. She voted no to the whole bill the amendment applied to IIRC.
  
  Ahh, gotcha, so this is just a shit stirring article that tries to send a very misleading message
  
  Gotcha. That makes more sense and I wish articles about this kind of thing made it clearer.
- It was an amendment to remove funding for the iron dome. She voted against the amendment.
- She voted against an amendment that would block funds for Israel's Iron Dome "defensive" missile system, while Tlaib, Omar, Summer Lee and Al Green of Texas voted for it, along with 2 Republicans.
Big swing and a miss for AOC there.
- AOC doesn't miss. You're not listening to her or paying attention to the details/fine print. You can fuckin bet she is
  
  She handled this terribly. She has a coherent position, not a great one but one I could accept, but the crash out has been disheartening
- You just posted evidence that you respond to clickbait headlines without knowing what the article says or is even about. Hallmark of a conservative voter
- Why is this a miss?
  
  AOC’s defense of her vote is a swing and a miss because it rests on a false distinction. She claims the amendment only cuts funding for the Iron Dome (a "defensive" system) and not for the bombs killing Palestinians, but that’s misleading.
  The Iron Dome isn’t neutral; it enables Israel to continue bombing Gaza with impunity by shielding it from retaliation. It’s part of the war apparatus, not separate from it.
  By opposing this amendment, AOC helped maintain the full structure of US military aid that underwrites the genocide she says she opposes. Her rationale sounds nuanced, but in practice, it protects the status quo.
  And while she says she's focused on cutting offensive munitions, the reality is that the US is sending Israel billions in lethal aid right now, and this amendment was a chance to actually stop some of it. Voting against it doesn’t show strategy; it shows inconsistency and a failure to act when it counts. If you’re serious about ending genocide, like she keeps insisting she is, you take every shot you can. This was one, and she missed it.
  
  Because knowing that a response to your aggression is harmless lets you get away with being aggressive. So funding their defense system allows Israel to attack countries in the region, killing people without any due process.
- RTFA*
  
  ? I googled and checked urban dictionary but it didn't help.
Manipulative title, fuck off.
But no blood on the doors or Schumer or Jefferies.
This whole shitshow is just the octillionth example of the left biting its own dick off instead of attacking the fascists stomping on it.
regardless of the position on "Israel" genocide, this is tax money going to a foreign country.
The real reason:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/17/pro-israel-money-progressives-congress-challenges
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/03/aipac-israel-spending-democratic-primaries-00144552
https://www.commondreams.org/news/aipac-100-million
https://abcnews.go.com/538/pro-israel-groups-spent-big-oust-squad-members/story?id=113675889
Didn't pass the purity test. Back to being a field slave. Also, you personally aren't doing enough and are therefore colluding with the oppressors. I am infallible.
- You are allowed to say you like progressive policies and also hate giving weapons to genociders.
Sucks. I still hope she ends up as prez or senate majority leader. She’s the best we got.
So, we have MTG voting to not fund and AOC to fund? What's going on? Is the earth now spinning in reverse or something?
- She didn't vote to fund, she voted against cutting the iron dome expenditures on an amendment
  It's not a great look, but the way she's handled it has been far more disappointing
  
  So, continue funding?
- No, RTFA
  
  Did you actually read the article? If you did, did you catch the word salad in her X‑post? She’s basically trusting that when we say "this money is for your defense system, the Iron Dome" Israel will actually use it just for the Iron Dome, and only the Iron Dome.
  Also, does this make sense to you at all? Like do you agree with this?
  “Along with other US-funded interceptor systems, the Iron Dome has emboldened Israel to invade or bomb no less than five different countries in the past two years.”
  Israel isn't such an honest country that they'll use the money we send them according to our allocations. She fucked up big time and now she's trying to defend her fuck up and is doing a terrible job.
  
  Yes XYZB.
The people in the comments saying that the Iron Dome allows Israel to continue to pogrom Palestinians are hypocrites and nihilists. It is technically true. Israel without a defense system would be destroyed very quickly, becoming like Gaza and unable to do anything. But don't mask this as if this would somehow bring peace in any way other than that after a complete nuclear holocaust, the earth would be peaceful. Just say you want Israel to be wiped off from the map.
- Israel shouldn't exist. It's a country that literally stole land from Palestine.
So we want civilians to be killed by rocket attacks now?
That makes it clear this "pro-Palestinian" movement is not actually against civilians being killed... they actually do want civilians to die. It's just they want only civilians of a specific ethnicity to die.
Fellow Democrats Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar [as well as Democrats Al Green of Texas, Summer Lee of Pennsylvania and Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky - PL] had supported Taylor Greene’s amendment, which eventually lost in a 422-6 vote.
So there's a willingness of the "pro-Palestinian" movement to ally itself with anti-semites of the nationalist white supremacist variety. Nationalists and "socialists" finding common ground in their hatred of Jews. Where have I heard this one before?
- Wait so, you would be ok with countries giving money to Hitler so they can build defense systems in Germany?
  Not only this but I wouldn't trust a genocidal maniac state in not using this money for other military purposes. The best way of keeping civilians alive is ending the war not stoking it. Moreover such blocks can actually force Israel to transfer some of its offensive resources back to defensive. Not that I believe MTG's intentions were good.
  
  Going full Godwin right out of the gate?
  An odd move to make given you're aligning with a self described nationalist like MTG. I'd think given the position you're taking you'd want to downplay the references to Nazis.
- you're being so disingenuous
  
  Oh, so you honestly believe Marjorie Taylor Greene suddenly has sympathy for the "pro-Palestinian" cause? Or is it possible she might have some other motivation for this amendment? What do you think MTG's motives are?
Yup called it (In a distant post) AOC is not a good person. Replace her with Zohran Mamdani

116 comments