AOC says she will oppose future US military aid to Israel, including Iron Dome funding

Ocasio-Cortez draws a hard line on future aid

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Wednesday that she will oppose any future US military aid to Israel, including funding for defensive systems such as Iron Dome.

In a statement posted on social media, the New York Democrat said Israel is fully capable of paying for “Iron Dome and other defensive systems” itself. She added, “consistent with my voting record to date, I will not support Congress sending more taxpayer dollars and military aid to a government that consistently ignores international law and US law.”

Her remarks came after reports that she made a similar pledge at a New York City Democratic Socialists of America forum on Tuesday night. The timing is almost convenient, if by convenient one means the issue was already politically radioactive.

What she told the DSA forum

According to City & State, which obtained a partial recording of the event, Ocasio-Cortez told attendees: “I have not once ever voted to authorize funding to Israel, and I will never,” adding that “the Israeli government should be able to finance their own weapons if they seek to arm themselves.”

The report said a DSA member asked her: “If the moment presents itself in Congress, will you commit to voting no for any spending on arms for Israel, including so-called ‘defensive capabilities’?”

She replied: “Yes.”

Ocasio-Cortez also said that US allies seeking military help must receive it “consistent with the Leahy amendment and the foreign assistance act,” referring to the law that bars US military support for army units that commit human rights violations.

Her record on Iron Dome has already caused friction

Ocasio-Cortez has long opposed funding for offensive weapons to Israel, but her past votes on Iron Dome have drawn criticism from some supporters on the left.

In 2021, she voted “present” on a supplemental military funding bill for Iron Dome. At the time, she said she opposed the bill’s “substance,” but argued the vote had been rushed and did not allow enough time for debate or discussion.

She also said then that, “contrary to popular narrative, this bill was not for all US funding of the Iron Dome, and opposing it would not defund US financing of the system in any way, shape, or form.”

Last year, she voted against an amendment from Marjorie Taylor Greene, then a Republican representative, that would have cut $500 million in US funding for Israel’s Iron Dome system.

Ocasio-Cortez said at the time that the proposal did nothing “to cut off offensive aid to Israel nor end the flow of US munitions being used in Gaza.”

“What it does do is cut off defensive Iron Dome capacities while allowing the actual bombs killing Palestinians to continue,” she said.

Then in 2024, she joined 18 other Democratic members of Congress in a statement saying that while they opposed sending offensive weapons to Israel, “all of us support strengthening the Iron Dome and other defense systems.”

Fallout with the DSA

Those positions helped strain her relationship with parts of the Democratic Socialists of America. The organization withdrew its endorsement of her in 2024, saying that while it recognized she had “taken many courageous positions on Palestine,” members had raised concerns about several of her votes and about the 2024 statement she signed.

Wider Democratic shift on Israel

Ocasio-Cortez’s comments came as Democratic support for Israel has fallen sharply since the war in Gaza began.

On Wednesday, Rep. Ro Khanna of California echoed part of her argument, saying Iron Dome is “important & saves lives” but that Israel “should be able to buy it on their own with a $45 defense billion budget [sic].” He stopped short of explicitly saying whether he would vote against future Iron Dome funding.

“Israel is a first world country, and it can pay for the defensive systems it needs.”