OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
The domestically developed Iron Dome anti-missile system Israel is using to protect its cities and citizens from incoming rockets and missiles fired by Hamas forces was funded, in part, by the United States, but it wasn’t a decision that one of Congress’s most left-wing members approved of at the time.
The opposition by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has come into focus again after Hamas launched thousands of rockets into Israel last week while sending hundreds of fighters into Israeli communities to butcher residents and take hostages in a surprise attack that left more than 1,100 dead.
In September 2021, “AOC” cried on the floor of Congress after lawmakers passed a measure providing $1 billion in funding for Israel to continue development of the Iron Dome system, which was overwhelmed by the sheer number of rockets that Hamas fired from Gaza.
Fox News host Sean Hannity posted a ‘reminder’ via the X platform.
AOC Cries on the House Floor as Congress Passes $1 Billion in Funding for Israel’s Iron Dome https://t.co/ykBwfoY8BG
— Sean Hannity 🇺🇸 (@seanhannity) October 13, 2023
Also on Friday, Newsmax TV host Eric Bolling posted a video clip of the incident, which confused some X platform users who did not realize it took place two years ago.
AOC Cries on the House Floor as Congress Passes $1 Billion in Funding for Israel’s Iron Dome pic.twitter.com/30HANNsSzZ
— 🇺🇸 ERIC BOLLING 🇺🇸 (@ericbolling) October 13, 2023
The measure passed 420 to 9, meaning the vast majority of AOC’s party also voted in support of the funding.
A week after the vote, People Magazine interviewed her about the incident. The New York ‘Squad’ member claimed that she was frustrated and disappointed “that the bill was ‘rushed’ to a vote through a process that prevented the legislation from receiving the ‘usually-necessary committee debate, markup, or regular order.’”
She also complained that “for far too long, the U.S. has handed unconditional aid to the Israeli government” and that “Congress should take greater scrutiny with all military funding across the world.”
“Yes, I wept,” AOC said. “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.
“And I wept at the complete lack of regard I often feel our party has to its most vulnerable and endangered members and communities — because the death threats and dangerous vitriol we’d inevitably receive by rushing such a sensitive, charged, and under-considered vote weren’t worth delaying it for even a few hours to help us do the work necessary to open a conversation of understanding.”
Other liberals were critical of her actions, including MSNBC opinion writer and editor Zeeshan Aleem, who wrote that her actions were “a tactical mess, a worst-of-both-worlds solution to what appeared to be a dilemma about the future of her political identity.”
He went on to suggest that her “surprising” tearful reaction and decision to vote “present” instead of “no” along with fellow Squad members was due to her overriding concern about her political future.
Aleem speculated that the incident “could signal concerns about her long-term reputation and that she has her eye on higher office. … If she ever runs for a position like governor or president, her track record on Israel will be closely scrutinized and could be used as a wedge issue against her.”
But, he went on, “a last-minute switch of her vote on funding Iron Dome from ‘no’ to ‘present’ while in tears will not convince any fiercely pro-Israel voter or the American Israeli Public Action Committee that she’s a settlement stan. She not only didn’t vote to fund Iron Dome, she also appeared to have no position at all, except one of emotional distress.”
As for Israel, the U.S. is already providing a great deal of military support.
“I have directed the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group to begin moving to the Eastern Mediterranean,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement released Saturday, announcing that a second group was being sent to waters near the Jewish state.
Austin said the move was “part of our effort to deter hostile actions against Israel or any efforts toward widening this war following Hamas’s attack on Israel.”
“The increases to U.S. force posture signal the United States’ ironclad commitment to Israel’s security and our resolve to deter any state or non-state actor seeking to escalate this war,” he said.
