From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, April 1, 2026
Ocasio-Cortez: Iron Dome is critical for protecting civilians but Israel should pay for it itself
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleLuke Tress is The Times of Israel's New York correspondent.
US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense is needed to protect civilians, but that Israel should pay for the system without US help.
The statement comes in response to a report saying that Ocasio-Cortez, one of the most prominent progressives in Congress, had said she would vote against providing defensive aid to Israel, a change to her previous position.
“The Israeli government is well able to fund the Iron Dome system, which has proven critical to keep innocent civilians safe from rocket attacks and bombardment,” Ocasio-Cortez says in a statement.
“I will not support Congress sending more taxpayer dollars and military aid to a government that consistently ignores international law and US law,” she says, without specifying which laws she is referring to. Israel has not been convicted of any international legal violations.
“Netanyahu’s allies in the Knesset just approved a $45 billion defense budget,” she says. “It is fully within their ability to fund Iron Dome and other defensive systems.”
The statement does not include any explicit commitments about her future votes.
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