AOC’s defense of her vote is a swing and a miss because it rests on a false distinction. She claims the amendment only cuts funding for the Iron Dome (a “defensive” system) and not for the bombs killing Palestinians, but that’s misleading.

The Iron Dome isn’t neutral; it enables Israel to continue bombing Gaza with impunity by shielding it from retaliation. It’s part of the war apparatus, not separate from it.

By opposing this amendment, AOC helped maintain the full structure of US military aid that underwrites the genocide she says she opposes. Her rationale sounds nuanced, but in practice, it protects the status quo.

And while she says she’s focused on cutting offensive munitions, the reality is that the US is sending Israel billions in lethal aid right now, and this amendment was a chance to actually stop some of it. Voting against it doesn’t show strategy; it shows inconsistency and a failure to act when it counts. If you’re serious about ending genocide, like she keeps insisting she is, you take every shot you can. This was one, and she missed it.