cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/33487836
By MEE staff
Published date: 21 July 2025 21:11 BSTThe New York lawmaker voted against an amendment by Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene last week that sought to block $500m in Congress’ annual defence spending bill for Israel’s Iron Dome programme.
Fellow Democrats Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar [as well as Democrats Al Green of Texas, Summer Lee of Pennsylvania and Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky - PL] had supported Taylor Greene’s amendment, which eventually lost in a 422-6 vote.
In a post on X on Saturday, Ocasio-Cortez claimed that Greene’s amendment did “nothing to cut off offensive aid to Israel nor end the flow of US munitions being used in Gaza”.
Cutting off defense seems like a dumb move and I agree with AOC on this. We should cease all offensive weaponry sales as that’s clearly being used in a god damn genocide.
Why are we responsible for Israel’s defense? they have free health care and education but our checkbook is open for iron dome missiles for them ? No. Thats American taxpayer money, not theirs. If they are rich enough to bribe the entire American government, then they are rich enough to buy their own missiles.
I bet that the US gets a lot of intel about the other countries in the region in return.
Thats speculative, and even if true, its not worth the cost, or the problems allying with israel creates. Israel is not useful to the US and never have been. Its all cost.
Yes, it is speculative. That is what it means when a sentence starts with “I bet”.
More than that, Isreal is basically a forward opperating base of the US in the middle east. They’re just the US with Groucho Marx glasses on, our sock puppet for genocide and imperialism.
Thats just not true at all.
If true, then why doesnt Israel allow any actual operational bases inside Israel? There are no US warplanes flying out of Israel, and there never have been. They fly out of Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan-- which is actually a forward operating base that you pretend Israel is, and hosts British planes too. It was a big celebration when a navy ship was allowed to dock and resupply in israel in 2018, after no US warship had been allowed to dock in Israel in the previous 20 years.
https://www.reuters.com/article/world/us-navy-returns-to-israeli-port-in-sign-of-deep-alliance-idUSKCN1ML2IT/#%3A~%3Atext="This+visit+has+significance.%2Cthe+safety+of+our+sailors."
The US has a shared radar site in the negev that has 10 people staffing it, that they are just now talking about building a barracks for, and also what they call a “base within a base” AKA a desk inside a Israeli military base. Not operational. Israel is not a FOB for the US, nor is it a “giant aircraft carrier” for the US.
Cutting defense means they would have to shift the budget to defense.
Moreover you’re helping the aggressor protect itself against finding out the consequences of their own action.
Fuck that noise.
Okay, but on the other hand, if they stopped providing defence aid to israel, they could then say that they stopped financing them and did enough, so they don’t have to stop offence funding for their genocide
You literally sound like the pro-genocide people with that statement.
Would you find supplying Nazi Germany defensive weapons during the Holocaust to be acceptable?
Of course not, because those defensive weapons are still used to embolden their genocidal actions
Of course not. And I don’t support funding Israel while they’re committing genocide either.
My problem was with their rhetoric. It’s literally the justification people use to support genocide. My only point was be careful how far you go with that.
You understand that the Iron Dome is why Israel felt it had the impunity to strike Iran and continued to act belligerent in the region right?
Furthermore withholding all Munitions to a state facilitating genocide is the bare minimum. Regardless of the intended purpose any Munition can be turned offensive.
Finally even if Israel didn’t have the resupply for the Iron Dome and had to supply their own budget it would not guarantee a genocide against the Israeli people. Saying anything of the such is stupid and undermines the control of the United States has in that area with its massive aircraft carriers that carry the power of a small state with them.
I don’t know why you’re directing all that at me. I just said they sounded the exact same as the pro-genocide arguments I’ve heard.
Explain how the statement is pro genocide?
Literally giving aid to Palestinians or threatening to stop funding Israel is seen as helping the aggressor protect itself from the consequences of their actions. Pretty straightforward. A lot of people see all the genocide as 100% justified.
Hamas did some really brutal shit. That doesn’t justify murdering people.
Only person here making pro-genocide arguments here is you.
Fucking both-siding genocidal fuck.
You’re not clever and it is clear what you are doing.
Edit: to be absolutely clear: you are pro-genocide and you’re trying to justify it by sounding anti-genocide. But you, personally, are bad at rheoteric, and it would be clear to a child what you are doing.
Israel should be their own nation. No money for anything to a country committing genocide.
Agreed
How does restricting Israel’s defense assets from the United States, which they are perfectly capable of manufacturing on their own, result in murdering people? Is the United States immediately going to strike Israel with missiles?
The only people claiming that giving Aid to Palestinians is funding terrorists are Israel in the United States everybody else pretty universally agrees they giving Aid the Palestinians is not funding “terrorist” groups. This is an especially stupid example given the fact that Bibi has admitted to funding Isis groups to disrupt Hamas activities as recently as last month.
Yeah so did the Germans in World War II. That’s a wonderful argument you’re making. 🤦
So I’m going to predict you’re not going to give me a straight answer because you and I both know what the answer actually is. But let’s try this again so that you can at least try to prove that you’re not just a fool who came in here without any fact to back up your opinion.
How does removing $500 million of United States tax dollars from the Israeli defense assets endorse genocide, and as a follow-up, justify murder?
The real problem is how she handled it. It’s a weak, but coherent, position.
She’s crashing out over it. She’s responding to genuine criticism with accusations of being fake leftists… It’s not a good look
I’m not commenting on all the bait. Most of that is you arguing with an imaginary person in your head. Hurting innocent people is bad. Fuck Hamas and IDF. Take from that whatever you want.
But this is funny.
It’s like you ALMOST got what I was saying. But you’re so wrapped up in yourself that you missed where I was saying genocide is bad.
Why should anyone care what a war criminal supporting person like yourself insinuates? You lost all right to have your opinion listened to when you supported that stuff. Zionists have committed war crimes and should be banned en masse from lemmy. You are no better than a nazi yourself.
I absolutely don’t support it. What the IDF has done is horrific.
I’ve seen people justifying Hamas butchering people though, which is worrying.
Do you condemn Nat Turner?
Do you condemn the Warsaw Uprising?
I notice you don’t answer those questions because it might make you think uncomfortable thoughts.
Come on, if you’re so moral have the courage of your convictions. Either explain how those were different or condemn them. If not, you’re just a jackass with no moral code other than “this feels icky”
Funding is funding.
Cut it all off.