Flashback: AOC Cried When US Gave Israel $1B to Help Iron Dome Protect Civilians
The Middle East rebounded into the forefront of news reports and social media posts after last week’s deadly attack against Israel, followed by the tiny nation’s bloody retaliation against Hamas.
Much of the focus has been on who stands with Israel and who stands with the Palestinians.
There has also been talk of the successes — and more frequently, the failure — of Israeli defense systems during the assault.
One of those systems was the famous Iron Dome, which managed to stop many of the rockets Hamas fired at it, but was ultimately overwhelmed by the thousands of rockets fired in a short period of time, according to Fortune.
For many, the Iron Dome’s capabilities brought to mind an incident from 2021 involving progressive “squad” member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Fox News’ Sean Hannity was one of those this week who posted the throwback scene from September 23 of that year, in which AOC famously cried on the House floor after legislators approved a $1 billion bill to fund the Iron Dome.
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
NewsMax host Eric Bolling posted a video clip of the incident, which confused some readers who did not realize that the incident took place two years ago, during the height of COVID restrictions, including mask mandates.
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 incident drew a flurry of media attention at the time, because even the vast majority of liberal Democrats had supported the Iron Dome, voting 420 to 9 to pass the bill.
Some felt AOC’s dramatic expression was an indication that she felt Israeli citizens did not deserve the high-tech, purely defensive protection from aerial attacks.
A week after her tearful vote, People Magazine even interviewed her about the incident. Ocasio-Cortez said her frustration had been due to disappointment “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 said 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.”
MSNBC opinion writer and editor Zeeshan Aleem read volumes into Ocasio-Cortez’s emotional 2021 vote, calling the move “a tactical mess, a worst-of-both-worlds solution to what appeared to be a dilemma about the future of her political identity.”
Alleem speculated at the time that AOC’s “surprising” tearful decision to take no official position by voting “present” instead of “no” with her fellow Squad members was due to concern over her political future.
The incident, Alleem wrote, “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.”
However, he added, “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.”
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