AOC vows to block future US military aid to Israel, its Iron Dome and defense

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.”

According to the report, at one point during the forum a DSA member asked Ocasio-Cortez: “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 responded: “Yes.”

While Ocasio-Cortez has long been opposed to sending money to Israel for offensive weaponry, she has drawn criticism from some supporters for past positions relating to funding for Israel’s Iron Dome, the country’s air defense system.

In 2021, she voted “present” on a supplemental military funding bill for Iron Dome. At the time, she said she opposed the “substance” of the bill but that the vote was rushed and did not allow time for proper debate or discussion.

She also said at the time 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, Ocasio-Cortez voted against an amendment that would have cut $500m in US funding for Israel’s Iron Dome system. It was introduced by Marjorie Taylor Greene, the then–Republican representative.

Ocasio-Cortez said at the time that the proposed amendment 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.

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

Those positions have strained her relationship with elements of the DSA, which withdrew its endorsement of her in 2024, saying at the time that while the organization recognized that the congresswoman had “taken many courageous positions on Palestine”, DSA members had “raised their concerns regarding a number of her votes” as well as the statement she signed in 2024.

Her comments this week come as support for Israel has fallen dramatically among Democratic voters since the start of the war in Gaza.

On Wednesday, Ro Khanna, a California Democratic representative, echoed Ocasio-Cortez’s statement, saying that while the Iron Dome is “important & saves lives”, Israel “should be able to buy it on their own with a $45 defense billion budget [sic]”. He did not say outright whether he would oppose future votes on Iron Dome funding.

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