Democratic socialists torch AOC for voting against Republican anti-Israel amendment

Fox News

a day ago

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is getting broadsided from her left over her vote on an amendment aimed at blocking U.S. funding for Israel's Iron Dome.
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are criticizing the progressive firebrand for voting against an amendment by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., to block $500 million in Congress' annual defense spending bill that was aimed at helping fund Israeli missile defense systems.
"An arms embargo means keeping all arms out of the hands of a genocidal military, no exceptions. This is why we oppose Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez'[s] vote against an amendment that would have blocked $500 million in funding for the Israeli military's Iron Dome program," the DSA said over the weekend.
The DSA noted she did vote against the defense funding bill itself, thereby "voting against funding for the imperialist military-industrial complex and the Israeli genocide."
The group added, however, "We were further deeply disappointed by her clarifying statement on her position on the Iron Dome."
"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," the DSA said.
"The fact that Representative Ocasio-Cortez acknowledges that Israel is carrying out this genocide makes her support for military aid all the more disappointing and incongruous. We urge the representative to continue voting against the Iron Dome, whether it is part of a larger defense spending bill or as a stand-alone bill."
The DSA commended Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.; Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.; Summer Lee, D-Pa., and Al Green, D-Texas, for voting against the amendment.
Fox News Digital reached out to Ocasio-Cortez's campaign and congressional office for comment.
She posted on X after the vote, "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," she said.
"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."
The clash exemplifies how Israel continues to drive an ideological wedge within the Democratic Party.
It's not the first time Ocasio-Cortez caught heat from the progressive base for failing to take a critical enough stance on Israel.
In 2021, the New York Democrat cried on the House floor after voting "present" on funding Israel's Iron Dome defense system.
"Yes, I wept," she wrote in an open letter to constituents after the incident. "I wept at the complete lack of care for the human beings that are impacted by these decisions. I wept at an institution choosing a path of maximum volatility and minimum consideration for its own political convenience."
The overall bill that passed last week calls for $832 billion in defense funding for fiscal year 2026.
That's separate from the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), another annual bill that sets defense and national security policy each fiscal year – essentially detailing how those funds will be spent.
Greene's amendment to strip $500 billion going toward Israeli missile defense programs lost in a lopsided 6-422 vote.