At DSA forum, AOC pledges not to vote for any military aid to Israel

During a private meeting with members of the New York City Democratic Socialists of America on Tuesday night, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said that she would not vote to send any military aid to Israel, according to a partial recording of the virtual forum shared with City & State.

“I have not once ever voted to authorize funding to Israel, and I will never,” Ocasio-Cortez said in response to a question about whether she would support an arms embargo. “The Israeli government should be able to finance their own weapons if they seek to arm themselves,” she added.

“I wanted to clarify,” an NYC-DSA member asked in a follow-up question. “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?’”

“Yes,” Ocasio-Cortez quickly answered.

“OK, and I want you to know that if and when you do vote ‘no,’ a ton of us have your back, so thank you,” added the DSA member, whose name was not included in the recording.

“I appreciate that, thank you,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

Ocasio-Cortez’s new commitment to vote against funding even defensive weapons to Israel represents a small but significant shift from her previous position. The congressional representative had previously opposed sending “offensive” weapons to Israel but had defended the idea of sending “defensive” weapons, such as the Iron Dome missile defense system – a position that led some NYC-DSA members to oppose endorsing her for reelection this cycle.

The 2026 endorsement for reelection itself hardly matters – Ocasio-Cortez faces only token opposition and is the most successful small-dollar fundraiser in the country – but it is symbolically important as both DSA and Ocasio-Cortez prepare for the 2028 presidential election. Ocasio-Cortez is widely seen as a standard-bearer for the left and future presidential candidate, and any rift between NYC-DSA and its most famous member could undermine left unity going into 2028.

DSA is a proudly anti-Zionist organization that advocated early and often for a ceasefire in Gaza and is committed to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. It expects its endorsed candidates to oppose all aid to Israel – a standard that some DSA members claim Ocasio-Cortez has not met. In 2021, she voted “present” rather than “no” on a funding package for the Iron Dome. 

Last year, she voted against an amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act proposed by former Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene that would have stripped out funding for the Iron Dome from the must-pass defense bill (though it would not have touched other military aid to Israel in the bill). That amendment failed with just six votes in favor, but two other lefty “squad” members – Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar – were among those who voted with Greene. Ocasio-Cortez then voted against the Defense Appropriations Act itself and released a statement explaining that she opposed sending “offensive aid” to Israel but not “defensive Iron Dome capacities.”

Ocasio-Cortez’s apparent willingness to send defensive weapons to Israel upset a number of her DSA comrades, who circulated a petition ahead of Tuesday’s candidate forum pledging to vote against endorsing her for reelection unless she committed to opposing all “military and settlement aid” to Israel, including Iron Dome funding. Nearly 300 DSA members signed that petition, though even more signed a competing petition supporting her endorsement.

It was evident during the forum that Ocasio-Cortez felt her record on Israel-related legislation had been distorted by some of her critics on her left, which she said was counterproductive. “It does not benefit us as a movement, because I see when we try to persuade our colleagues, I see the effect that that has when people feel like if they vote our way, they are just going to be lied about anyway,” she said at one point. “I have to be able to make that case to grow our ranks.”

According to three DSA members who attended the forum, Ocasio-Cortez also said she will oppose any attempts to enshrine the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Association definition of antisemitism – which labels certain criticism of Israel as antisemitic – into law. But she did not accede to all of NYC-DSA’s demands. She declined to back the socialist group’s full slate of candidates and instead said she would consider endorsing individual candidates on a case-by-case basis.

After Ocasio-Cortez spoke at the forum, a number of DSA-backed elected officials and candidates – including Assembly Members Claire Valdez and Diana Moreno, New York City Council Member Tiffany Cabán, congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier and state Senate candidate Aber Kawas – spoke in favor of endorsing her.

The online endorsement vote for NYC-DSA members closes on April 6. Ocasio-Cortez’s commitment to opposing all military funding for Israel should mollify most of her critics on the left, making her a shoo-in for endorsement.

Valdez said failing to endorse Ocasio-Cortez for reelection would be a mistake because there are still millions of people who support her and are still looking for a political home; keeping Ocasio-Cortez in the fold means those people could eventually join DSA, while cutting formal ties with Ocasio-Cortez would leave them politically homeless.

Ocasio-Cortez herself spoke about the importance of working closely with DSA, contrasting her relationship to the socialist organization that has backed her since 2018 with her relationship to other groups. “There are a lot of organizations with which I may have a more transactional political relationship. I do not seek a transactional relationship with DSA,” she said. “I seek a relationship of mutuality and shared interest.”