WASHINGTON — Bronx and Queens Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez declared that she will no longer support any military aid to Israel, even for defense purposes, buckling to intense pressure from the far left.
Previously, Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) backed legislation to replenish Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system, though she had been critical of sending arms to the critical US ally.
“The Israeli government is well able to fund the Iron Dome system, which has proven critical to keep innocent civilians safe from rocket attacks and bombardment,” Ocasio-Cortez declared on X Wednesday.
“I will not support Congress sending more taxpayer dollars and military aid to a government that consistently ignores international law and U.S. law.”
Her past position of backing the defense aid to Israel had rankled key figures within the progressive movement. Last week, for example, she got into a social media spat with the Young Turks pundit Anna Kasparian.
Kasparian bashed Ocasio-Cortez for her record of supporting aid to Israel.
She also faced backlash from hecklers for not being hard enough on Israel. Last year, Ocasio-Cortez explained that she does “not believe that adding to the death count of innocent victims to this war is constructive to its end,” by opposing Iron Dome funding.
Ocasio-Cortez reportedly revealed her change of heart during a virtual Democratic Socialists of America event. The DHS is famously staunchly skeptical of Israel.
That virtual forum was a key step in the lefty organization’s endorsement process.
Her reversal illustrates how opposition to Israel has surged within key factions of the left.
“[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s allies in the Knesset just approved a $45 billion defense budget, and the Prime Minister himself also asserted his interest in withdrawing from the MOU [Memorandum of Understanding] with the United States in January,” she went on.
“It is fully within their ability to fund Iron Dome and other defensive systems. Our allies who need our military aid must understand that we will provide it consistent with the Leahy amendment and the Foreign Assistance Act.”
The Leahy amendment restricts the US from sending foreign aid to countries that are facing credible accusations of gross human rights violations. The Foreign Assistance Act governs aid to other countries.
Ocasio-Cortez, who has garnered 2028 presidential and Senate speculation, took flak earlier this year for her foreign-policy-heavy visit to Germany to partake in a panel at the Munich Security Conference.
She made several high-profile blunders, including stammering over a question about Taiwan and suggesting that Venezuela was below the Earth’s equator. That trip was widely seen as a test of her foreign policy bona fides as she mulls whether to seek higher office.
