Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a US representative, said on Wednesday that she will oppose any future US military aid to Israel, including for defensive systems.
In a statement on social media, Ocasio-Cortez said that Israel was fully capable of funding “Iron Dome and other defensive systems”, and that “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 on Wednesday follow reports that she pledged to oppose any future military aid to Israel during a New York City Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) forum on Tuesday evening.
“Our allies who need our military aid must understand that we will provide it consistent with the Leahy amendment and the foreign assistance act”, Ocasio-Cortez added, referring to a law which prohibits the US from providing military support to army units that violate human rights.
According to City & State, which obtained a partial recording of the DSA forum, Ocasio-Cortez told members: “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.”
She has though: https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2024128, https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2023681, https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/202428
It’s a much better track record than pretty much anyone else but this article and post is a pretty blatant attempt at reputation laundering.
Do y’all really fall for this so easily?
And she even called MTG antisemitic for it and launched a Twitter thread saying how much Israel deserves getting US interceptors.
Which one of these you linked is providing funding to Israel?
In order:
H.R.5917
This bill extends the authority of the President to impose sanctions on foreign persons using human shields through 2030 and requires the President to impose such sanctions on each foreign person determined to be a member of Palestine Islamic Jihad and orders, controls, or otherwise directs the use of human shields. Currently, such sanctions are (1) required for users of human shields who are members of Hamas or Hezbollah or supporters of those groups, and (2) authorized for other users of human shields.
The President must also determine if a person named in certain congressional requests meets the criteria for such sanctions and report on whether the President intends to impose sanctions on that person.
Additionally, the Department of Defense must report to Congress on the implications of the use of human shields by Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestine Islamic Jihad.
H.R.5961
This bill requires the President to impose property-blocking sanctions on foreign financial institutions and international financial institutions that process, participate in, or facilitate a transaction involving certain Iranian funds (namely, the approximately $6 billion of Iranian funds that the Biden administration permitted to be transferred from restricted accounts in South Korea to restricted accounts in Qatar to facilitate the release of five U.S. citizens detained in Iran).
H.R.6679
This bill imposes immigration-related penalties on certain non-U.S. nationals (aliens under federal law) who are involved with terrorism or attacks against Israel.
Under this bill, members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad or Hamas or who participated in or otherwise facilitated the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel may not be admitted into the United States.
The bill also expands an existing admissions bar against officers, representatives, and spokespersons of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). Under this bill, all PLO members are barred from admission into the United States.
The bill also prohibits any non-U.S. national who participated in or otherwise facilitated the October 7, 2023, attacks from seeking any immigration-related relief or protections, including (1) protection from being deported to a country where the individual’s life or freedom would be threatened, or (2) asylum in the United States.
Summaries are generally misleading.
Full text for H.R.5917: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/5917/text where it outlines the modifications to public law 115-348 which according to Sec. 3.d authorizes usage of the IEEPA to enforce sanctions.
Israel then directly receives defense spending to enforce those sanctions as well as indirectly being funded via any seized assets that are found in violation of those sanctions as “reperations”. Here’s an example of a $500Mil funding source.
H.R.5961 uses essentially the same mechanism but targets Iran specifically redirecting a large chunk of the $6B mentioned towards Israel.
You are correct that H.R.6679 isn’t about funding, but I still felt it was important to include.
Thank you!
This is what AOC voted on in regard to Israel and the Iron Dome.
MTG had offered an amendment that would cut the funding for Israeli defense and AOC voted against it, allowing the funds to remain in the bill.
Thank you!