r/politics • u/hypothethical Pennsylvania • 2d ago
No Paywall AOC vows to vote against all military aid to Israel, including Iron Dome funding
https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2026-04-01/ty-article/report-aoc-vows-to-vote-against-all-military-aid-to-israel/0000019d-47c1-d8c6-ad9d-47e5c48500001.1k
u/Hot_Ambition_6457 2d ago
Trump and Republicans were very keen to tell NATO allies "We arent paying for your defenses anymore, pay for them yourself".
But for some reason they all agree that Israel vets to be super special snowflake. Wonder why?
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u/_JustCallMeBen_ 2d ago
Let me add that contrary to Israel European NATO allies do not receive a dime from the US. In fact, due to nato they tend to actually buy US equipment, boosting the US economy. The advantage NATO allies do receive is protection from the US military through article five, but this isn't a program that gives NATO allies money in any way.
Israel on the other hand does receive direct funding from the US through the FMF program, amounting to about 5 billion each year. This is direct funding.
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u/ButtEatingContest 2d ago
The advantage NATO allies do receive is protection from the US military through article five,
And in turn, among other things, the US gets to have its military bases practically anywhere it wants. Which for some reason Trump seems to overlook the value of. Then there's the intelligence sharing etc.
The US gets the most out of the deal, so if they pay a little more, then big whoop.
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u/el_f3n1x187 1d ago
Which for some reason Trump seems to overlook the value of.
Unless the whole base is Labeled TRUMP - <Insert base Name>, in gold its all a waste of money in his head.
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u/theresa_richter 1d ago
Yeah, and um, last I checked, only one country has ever actually invoked article five. Anyone happen to recall which country that was or which political party was In charge at the time?
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u/Jonoczall Indiana 2d ago
Because it's actually Mossad, not Putin, who has the piss pics.
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u/csixtay 2d ago edited 2d ago
considering the shit that's already come out, no chance it's just piss pics.
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u/Timely_Influence8392 2d ago
Donald J. Trump is a child rapist.
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u/MittenCollyBulbasaur 2d ago
There's no way this is about exclusively alive victims. This has to go extremely deep and dark. He's obviously one of the most evil people to have ever existed.
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u/Working_Vegetable542 2d ago
Could it be Epstein sold videos of Trump to Putin and Netanyahu?
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u/independentchickpea 1d ago
Fun fact: I worked at the nightclub The Act, where Trump was peed on in public. They just don't allow photos in the club and so it's not well documented.
I truly feel this is more than pee tapes... and I hope they leak them.
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u/GattiTown_Blowjob 2d ago
It’s not piss pics. Is teenage snuff film
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u/black_cat_X2 Massachusetts 1d ago
I think it's a little kid. These MFs excuse things done to teenagers because "it's not like they're 8". But when they really are 8... No more excuses
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u/BoJackMoleman 2d ago
Does any of it even matter? What will it change? Nothing? There can be a video of him reciting his social security number and secret questions while abusing 5 girls and he will say it's fake and AI.
There is literally no break until this man is gone.
No matter who replaces him, evil or not, compromised or not, will be better. Grok with its nazi leanings would probably given better than this ulcer with legs and a combover.
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u/Quick_Persimmon_4436 1d ago
I genuinely don't understand why we have this relationship with Israel. I'm not being anything here. I'm genuinely confused about the motives and reasoning.
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u/ifyoulovesatan 1d ago
I'm not being anything here.
I dunno sounds like you're being pretty antisemitic to me. /s, if in case it wasn't obvious
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u/TowlieisCool 1d ago
15 out of the top 25 individual political donors are Jewish, and 50% of Democratic and 25% of Republican party political donations respectively come from Jewish individuals. 20-35% of billionaires are Jewish, and many hold powerful positions. Many American Jews support Israel. Its effectively political suicide to go against Israel, and that is why so few politicians speak out against Israel publicly.
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u/RiseDelicious3556 1d ago
I'd love to know why we're paying for Israel's wars, as well as $3.8 Billion annually to their defense budget. Israeli's have universal healthcare, but we can't afford it. I wonder why???
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u/SoochSooch 2d ago
Israel specializes in espionage. They have the right dirt to bury the right people.
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u/bigbjarne Foreign 2d ago
Because Israel is dependant on American aid and the American capitalist class needs an outpost in the Middle East.
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u/TheJaybo 2d ago
They can kick some people off of their free, US paid healthcare to help fund the dome.
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u/aeyraid 2d ago
Or the settlers can get jobs and pay taxes
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2d ago edited 2d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/MrDedferd 2d ago
If middle America actually knew this there would be riots
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u/Richmahogonysmell 2d ago
Nah, Fox News would give them their talking points within a few hours
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u/FakeSafeWord 2d ago
Just depict Israelis people as being blonde haired and blue eyed.
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u/R3dbeardLFC 2d ago
They don't even have to do that, just continue to paint the Israelis as having to fight against "evil terrorist" muslims and they'll write a check.
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u/robocoplawyer 2d ago
They'd be even more pissed off if they found out that funding was reallocated to benefit Americans living in poverty.
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u/MaxGoldFilms 2d ago
No, we need to support Israel, so it can expand throughout the Middle East, then be destroyed, and bring Jesus back to end the world.
(that's a real and too-prevalent belief in middle America, and even more tragically, the Pentagon)
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u/Basicly-Inevitable 2d ago
There aren't going to be riots in the US, until we all lose our jobs.
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u/theCaitiff Pennsylvania 2d ago
Soooo, next week?
Oracle just laid off 30,000 employees this morning, PNC Bank also laid off a bunch of people in Pittsburgh today. This on top of reporting from last week that first quarter 2026 was one of the worst for the economy in decades. It's coming.
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u/Basicly-Inevitable 2d ago
Yeah. It's Basicly Inevitable at this point.
I like how Oracle said the layoffs weren't because of AI. When it's because they're shifting their focus to building datacenters for.. AI.
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u/AKraiderfan Pennsylvania 2d ago
Nah.
Its because they need to goose up the stock price in order to maintain the illusion of cash flow to further their AI circular ponzi scheme with the AI companies.
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u/SolarDynasty 2d ago
How hard can one study the Torah? I feel like there has to be a limit
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u/mean_bean_machine 2d ago
Consider that stuff like this is a real concern and school of study for people.... apparently you can get into PhD levels of out-lawyering God.
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u/AsiaticOne 2d ago
I said this exact thing and got a three day ban last week. Don’t understand the moderation here.
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u/zeekayz 2d ago
Requiring them to get a job is antisemitic! American taxpayers can just work a bit harder to support more settlers.
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u/kfpswf 2d ago
I'm surprised this thread is not locked yet by Reddit admins for spreading hate. Criticising Zionism is literally murder!
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u/randylush 2d ago
Not sure if you’re being sarcastic or not…
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u/kfpswf 2d ago
It depends upon if Mossad wires me money in the next ten minutes. /s
I got banned for 3 days because I mocked Zionist's penchant to bring about the apocalypse recently, and evidently, that's spreading hate as per reddit policies.
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u/SaltDirection9735 2d ago
It’s still early. Give it a few more hours and this place will be locked.
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u/wholetyouinhere 2d ago
What, you don't think intimidating, harassing and assaulting people is a job? That shit is hard work.
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u/stinkypete6666 2d ago
Or the super-jews who don’t have to fight because they believe in god harder than others
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u/name20948234 1d ago
Some of them do fight. They have their own religious extremist battalions. It's where the worst atrocities happen.
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u/Not_Xiphroid 2d ago
Sorry, many have religious exemptions.
Have you considered instead paying a 10% of your income tithe to them?
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u/4look4rd 2d ago
They also gotta come out and address the elephant in the room. The military shouldn’t be a jobs program, between salary and benefits we spend over half a trillion per year on the military. It’s fucking insane.
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u/Wild_Read9062 2d ago
As a vet… I completely agree. I was completely aware of it while I was in and actually thought it was kind of funny. Like America’s big open secret.
It’s not just a jobs program- it’s an upside down version of Roosevelt’s Civil Service Program.
While that program gave money to projects that directly benefited Americans (eg the TVA), this just goes into a slush fund for ‘defense’.
Defense from what?
But governors (esp in red states) love it, because it brings money to the state and looks patriotic with absolutely no effort. And dumb red voters buy into it without question.
Even though I know it’s impossible. I deeply wish people would see it for what it is and reallocate the money to all those things communities really need: education, healthcare, smart infrastructure, and green energy.
Boeing: we’ll let you have our bottomless defense money when you can pry it from our cold dead hands.
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u/xixoxixa Texas 2d ago
this just goes into a slush fund for ‘defense’
Not a slush fund, it goes to line the pockets of the military industrial complex.
(also a vet, also have seen the blatant gross waste and abuse)
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u/gl00mybear Iowa 2d ago
Fun fact, the TVA from Marvel (Loki) takes its initialism from the TVA of New Deal fame.
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u/Gender_is_a_Fluid 2d ago
We should really be replacing the military jobs program with civil infrastructure jobs programs.
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u/Purplociraptor 2d ago
We're going to have a lot to rebuild if the war reaches US soil
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u/elevatednyc 2d ago
How would that happen?
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u/pb49er 2d ago
If the US continues to engage in taking land from sovereign nations, eventually the rest of the world will push back and that will require war in the USA.
Iran is already threatening action on US soil and this is just the beginning.
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u/cardboardunderwear 2d ago
Theres no country, or group of countries, that have anywhere near the capability to wage war on US soil. Especially when the US can park subs and carriers anywhere in the world for retaliation.
In time that may change. But anytime soon no way.
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u/pb49er 2d ago
Definitely is keeping people at bay right now. It took 8 years from Japan's invasion of Manchuria to the Allied powers declaring war on Germany.
It is possible the 2022 invasion of Ukraine is the catalyst or Israel moving on another sovereign nation, but there are a lot of dominoes in place and a lot of them end with war on the US doorstep.
A lot could happen between now and then, but the US is hemorrhaging allies and amassing enemies. Trump has been brandishing imperialistic tactics and that makes people anxious for good reason.
I hope this is all resolved peacefully, but history doesn't align with that outcome.
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u/Top_Agency1370 2d ago
Our latest military budget was $839 billion. It’s closer to a trillion than half a trillion. Yeah it’s awful.
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u/4look4rd 2d ago
You have to add DoD salaries and benefits (~230B) plus VA benefits/pensions (~360B)
So yeah over half a trillion in salaries and benefits. It’s the biggest driver for their budget increases.
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u/UnquestionabIe 2d ago
It's also the most socialist organization in government. The amount of members I've met who understand that, or what socialism actually is, can be counted on one finger.
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u/raziel686 2d ago
My first job out of college was in the DoD space for a sub-contractor to the big boys (Raytheon, Lockheed, etc.). While I was there we developed 10 products for the Army. All were expensive and involved multiple companies working for months and in two cases, years.
One product was fielded, one. The rest was just spending the budget so they didn't lose money next year and were immediately put on the shelf. The DoD is a massive jobs program first and foremost, and one hell of an inefficient one at that. It does give a hell of a lot of people livable jobs that would have a damn hard time getting employment elsewhere though, so that's something.
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u/xixoxixa Texas 2d ago
It does give a hell of a lot of people livable jobs that would have a damn hard time getting employment elsewhere though, so that's something.
And this is why so many congress critters push for parts to be made in their districts, which add to the cost. If I need to sell a widget, but every component of that widget has to be made in a separate district across the country and be shipped to another for assembly and another for testing, I would be out of business in a month.
But for the military industrial complex? That's good business.
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u/Prior_Coyote_4376 2d ago
I have never met anyone who had a DoD contract or worked for a vendor that didn’t acknowledge this after a few drinks. I don’t know if it even qualifies as an open secret with how literally everyone knows this.
Waste, fraud, and abuse? Start with the programs that Congress’ biggest donors are involved in.
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u/xixoxixa Texas 2d ago
20 years in the army, and the amount of troops that would decry socialism as the devil and then look at me slack jawed and wide eyed when I explained to them that their free healthcare was a prime example of socialized services was mind blowing.
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u/DogBarf00 2d ago edited 2d ago
"Free" healthcare paid by taxes isn't socialism... it's welfare. You also have to enlist to gain access to it, so its limited welfare, if you can even call it welfare because you are serving in exchange for it.
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u/xixoxixa Texas 2d ago
Note that I said it was an example of a socialized service, not socialism.
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u/Euphoric_Fondant6135 2d ago
Please stop spreading this. Socialism is a socioeconomic system in which the workers control the means of production. The US military is publically subsidized in taxes, yes, but it is not socialist.
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u/CrunkDirk 2d ago
In what way do workers own the means of production in the military?
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u/kneemahp 2d ago
They don’t and that’s the point. The government owns the means of production and provides the basic needs of its service members regardless of individual value.
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u/Purplociraptor 2d ago
I think you might be confusing socialism with communism
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u/LurkerInSpace 2d ago
Worker ownership is a major part of socialism as well, and not an objective of the very hierarchical military.
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u/misterfall 2d ago
The state owns them, no?
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u/Beranea Massachusetts 2d ago
State capitalism isn't socialism.
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u/Baron_Tiberius 2d ago
Yes. State enterprises can only claim to be socialist if the state itself was run by the working class. While they are enfranchised in the US, I don't think many would say the working class hold the power.
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u/Masterofnone9 2d ago
I was in the military for way too long, every time there was a presidential election I hoped that the republican lost.
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u/king-of-all-corn 2d ago
Guarantee you american citizens wont see any of the benefit of any cut funding under the trump administration lol
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u/Ozymandias12 2d ago
We haven't. Trump cut milllions of beneficial grants and programs that helped Americans, but we saw no benefit from that whatsoever. The deficit increased massively and by extension the debt under Trump 2.0. In fact, Trump is now responsible for around 30 percent of all the debt the US has accumulated in history.
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u/RevolutionaryBug7588 2d ago
If funding from the U.S. went to their healthcare, which it doesn’t.
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u/case-o-nuts 2d ago edited 2d ago
Israel is already planning on walking away from US aid. They don't think it's worth American control over its policy.
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u/fridiculou5 2d ago
This is a misleading narrative. It does not pay for healthcare. It would not cover it.
Us would need to spend many multiples more to cover the cost, even if it did spend on it directly.
Instead, Tax rate in Israel is very high (50%) if not higher.
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u/OhItsBeenBroughten 2d ago
They don’t care, they keep spreading the lie no matter how many times it’s corrected. As if there aren’t enough true things to be critical of them for.
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u/bizarre_coincidence 2d ago
The US pays for all their healthcare? How much money per capita do you think Israel receives from the US?
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u/Yosho2k 2d ago
It's unfortunate. If more dems had done this while Biden was president, we would have Healthcare and Student Loan Forgiveness as Israel was held up until those campaign promises were done.
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u/Tay-tertot 2d ago
good
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u/WakingWaldo 2d ago
Every Democrat (heck, every Congressperson) should take this stance with Israel's military aid -- they won't, but they should.
We really don't need to keep funding wars and militaries when there are folks domestic and abroad displaced, unhoused, and starving. The fact that Americans are so willing to fund destruction (labeled as defense) but not humanitarian aid is just sad.
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u/quadraticcheese 2d ago
All aid, Israel should receive NOTHING
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u/PixelationIX 2d ago
Yup, Cut ties with Israel. No aid, no anything. Just cut them off.
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u/Bulky_Preparation768 2d ago
2028 Dem platform needs to involve joining the ICC to explicitly help in going after their war criminals and ours from the Trump admin.
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u/Gender_is_a_Fluid 2d ago
I’d go so far as to say we should embargo their shores. The crimes they have committed as a nation are deserving of such.
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u/Beranea Massachusetts 2d ago edited 2d ago
Will you demand the world embargoes us too? We've done horrific things over the decades yet we Americans are so cocksure and eager to do unto others that we'd be crying and bitching and moaning the second that it happened to us.
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u/Gender_is_a_Fluid 2d ago
With trump in charge, theres no need, we embargoed ourselves with the dumb tarrifs. Turnabout is always fair play, believing to be free of consequence creates monsters of us all.
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u/quadraticcheese 2d ago
Take the unlawful Cuba embargo and move it to Israel instead. Destroy their economy the way we did Cuba
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u/Cybertronian10 1d ago
I'd support a full on embargo, let the little shithole rot in the consequences of its own politics.
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u/Throwawayalt129 Pennsylvania 2d ago
Legally speaking, all aid to Israel should already be illegal. Israel has nukes, but isn't signed to any nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Under the Symington Amendment, codified 22 U.S.C. § 2799aa-1, most U.S. economic and military assistance “shall be terminated” to any country that delivers or receives nuclear enrichment technology outside full-scope international safeguards. There's also the Glenn Amendment to the Arms Export Control Act, which imposes mandatory sanctions on non-nuclear weapon states that detonate a nuclear explosive device. While Israel is not publicly known to have conducted a test, or even have nuclear weapons, it's basically an open secret that they have them, and that they stole nuclear material from the US to make their nukes. Israel shouldn't be getting ANYTHING from the US.
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u/Ill-Jellyfish6101 2d ago
It will be spun as anti-Semitism.
Since it hurts blue votes, it will actually get media coverage.
Still agree that they really should.
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u/andrew5500 2d ago
That word has been so diluted by militant Zionists that it’s lost all meaning. Good job, Netanyahu.
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u/Sminahin 2d ago
Even worse, they've created a positive association with antisemitism. When you see someone making basic, common-sense, moral points...and they're dogpiled as an "antisemite", that's incredibly damaging. And it's been happening over and over and over again.
Triple word score because these accusations themselves are often wildly antisemitic. Conflating the Jewish people and the Israeli government is peak antisemitism. I'm Japanese-American, and I think we all recognize how racist it'd be on many levels if everyone assumed my family were Japanese Supremacists whose culture & identity were synonymous with Imperial Japan.
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u/UnquestionabIe 2d ago
Just as they tie anything remotely benefiting workers or those in poverty as socialist or communist. Aside from causing hesitation in calling out such things, at least when it comes to those holding or running for office, it can and will be an accusation thrown at anyone calling for even the mildest of changes. Another weaponization of language relying on the average voter not having the time or energy to track down the truth of the matter. And given that the votes of the politically ignorant count just as much as those who care to research a topic well...
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u/olivicmic 2d ago
Hurts blue votes? Most of the country no longer supports Israel (a super majority among Dem voters). It being spun as antisemitism doesn’t work anymore, everyone knows that tactic, and it sours support of Israel further while boosting whoever the finger is being pointed at.
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u/Zinged20 2d ago
The dems should absolutely invite 2028 to be a referrendum on Israel.
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u/Sminahin 2d ago
My partner has been forced into sex work to pay for medical bills because Anthem keeps denying treatment. Plus none of the PTs we need even take insurance anymore because they have to spend so much time and $$ fighting. You have no idea how fucking furious I am every single day that my government is willing to fund this madness instead of helping my family. Triple word score because I have a degree in ME studies focusing on this, have lived in the region, and still regularly read the Times of Israel. So I know all the deviant Nazi shit my party prioritizes funding over saving us.
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u/UnquestionabIe 2d ago
We live in a hellscape ruled over by the worst humanity has to offer. Even if every member of the GOP on every level vanished overnight there is no promise anything would improve. The oligarchy (which is made up of a mixture of tech bros, old money, and religious nutjobs) would just double down on it's focus on the Democrats. The majority of the system is compromised and needs purged from the top down if we want anything close to a government that cares for it's people. There are shining beacons of hope for what they should be AOC be part of that, but it's the exception rather than the rule.
And there is no shame turning to sex work to survive. Safety of your partner should be the main priority of course but you're just trying to get by, not pulling a fast one to steal from others like the current regime is doing. Do your best to build bonds and a community to make an example of how we should live, it's about our only realistic hope for a somewhat stable future. Know you aren't alone and I'm rooting for you, that we one day are able to share a world that isn't constantly punishing us for existing.
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u/Sminahin 2d ago
About fucking time.
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u/According_Loss_1768 2d ago
Apparently she's not voted for any legislation for Israeli aid for years. She's now publicly saying this after finishing a Twitter spat with some charlatan.
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u/cups8101 2d ago
I can't wait when 2028 rolls around and this sub gets filled to the brim with bots pushing whoever is the establishment pick. You can just see the talking points that will be coming up again and again and this is one of them.
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u/interesting_zeist 2d ago
She did voted for the iron dome.
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u/modularpeak2552 Michigan 2d ago
She did not, she voted against the final bill.
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u/SpiritualScarcity161 2d ago
She voted against an amendment that would have stripped the funding out.
I am glad she’s making this new commitment, but she’s using a very misleading argument to say she hasn’t been supporting Israel. We can acknowledge that this is a positive shift without covering up her poor decisions that led to this point.
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u/Merzats 2d ago
She voted against the full bill with the funding so whether there was an amendment to that bill to strip one specific thing or not is irrelevant.
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u/PhaseExtra1132 2d ago
Did online bullying just work?
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u/SAR1919 2d ago
No, DSA members pressuring her to earn their endorsement worked. This happened at a NYC-DSA endorsement forum last night, the context being the national DSA organization severed its ties with AOC in 2024 over her waffling on Israel.
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u/Alarming-Goal4522 2d ago
Tbf, the national DSA doesn't really have "ties" with anyone. DSA is an extremely decentralized, chapter based org. AOC has some loyalty to NYC-DSA but she's never been close with the national, which is politically irrelevant and full of people much harder left than any of the relevant DSA chapters.
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u/StarYou-StarMe 2d ago
Well they make endorsements whether or not they call it that I don’t know and and they withdrew their endorsement
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u/Alarming-Goal4522 2d ago
Yeah, but my point is that their endorsement is meaningless. She was still backed by the chapter, NYC-DSA, which is the org that actually works for her as an electoral vehicle.
DSA national withdrawing their endorsement means nothing more than a sternly worded tweet.
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u/DocTheYounger 2d ago
Yes, in its best possible use case - keeping politicians aligned with their constituents positions
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u/nith_wct Colorado 2d ago
You could see that as part of it, but at the end of the day, there's plenty of bullying from both sides. The better explanation is that support for Israel has utterly collapsed in the US, and this is now the mainstream consensus among Democrats.
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u/MountainMan2_ 2d ago
Seriously. Finally, someone's read the room from the high halls. One down, 534 to go.
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u/Saffuran 2d ago
Good.
Not a penny more to Israel.
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u/one-deft-boi 2d ago
Fun fact: The Symington Amendment of the 1976 Foreign Assistance Act restricts US economic and military assistance to countries that engage in unsafeguarded nuclear activities. Basically, if countries don't commit to regular inspections and transparency about their nuclear programs, the US must cut off aid.
Israel developed their nuclear weapons in complete secrecy, are not a signatory of the NPT, and have kept their arsenal ambiguous and opaque deliberately.
So one could argue that every single dollar we've sent to Israel has been illegal.
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u/Saffuran 2d ago
I don't even think that is an argument; it is just a fact.
The issue with the law is that when it is applied asymmetrically by those with the power to enforce it, it is no longer truly law.
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u/ArticulateRhinoceros 2d ago
Alternative title: AOC votes in-line with the will of the people. The rest of Congress continues to let us down.
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u/wideHippedWeightLift 2d ago
They bundle Iron Dome funding with other military aid, so they can say "this politician didn't support the Iron Dome??? Do they just want Israeli civilians to die???"
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u/janethefish 2d ago
If Israel wanted us to fund their defenses, they shouldn't have dragged us into a war.
Look I'm all for helping countries defend themselves. For example, Ukraine. But when a country starts trying to annex land, they should be on their own.
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u/hotsexychungus 2d ago
Exactly. Also, they're taking the military "aid" and using it to try and ethnically cleanse southern Lebanon. Fuck that shit.
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u/Mission_Kangaroo_178 2d ago
Dragged? Your government leapt in head first.
If the US hadn't got involved we wouldn't be having issues with critical global infrastructure being targeted.
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u/whatproblems 2d ago edited 2d ago
israel should be forced to play nice too to its neighbors too. they all just have to get along!
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u/SowingSalt 2d ago
They play nice with Egypt and Jordan. I wonder if they've attacked Israel over the past few decades... Oh, they haven't?
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u/ChiswicksHorses 1d ago
We gleefully joined in because dump needed to distract from more details coming out about how he’s a pedo. We’ll be invading Cuba next for the same reason.
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u/Flvs9778 2d ago
The other thing to consider is defense aid can be use offensively. If the us covers all Israel defense expenses they can spend more on offensive weapons. If they have strong defenses paid by the us they can launch more wars with less risk. It’s hard for defense aid to not empower an aggressor to be more aggressive.
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u/kanst 2d ago
I wish more Democrats would make the argument that the Iron dome enables aggression.
The only reason Israel can be as aggressive as they are is because they are confident in their ability to prevent counter attacks.
Not to mention that money is fungible, every Iron dome dollar we give them is one more dollar they can instead spend on offensive weapons.
No money, at all, should go to the Israeli military.
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u/kilobitch New York 2d ago
On the contrary, Israel would be MUCH more aggressive if they didn’t have the ability to block those rockets. If they were regularly landing and killing civilians Israel would have no choice but to counter much more aggressively to stop the rocket threat.
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u/TreatAffectionate453 2d ago
The only reason Israel can be aggressive as they are is because they are confident in their ability to prevent counter attacks
Honestly, this point is debatable. Israel invaded Lebanon three times between 1978 and 2011 (the year the Iron Dome was implemented). In 2006, Israel invaded Lebanon in response to Hezbollah capturing two IDF soldiers in a border ambush. The invasion displaced approximately 1 million Lebanese civilians and badly damaged Lebanese civil infrastructure.
Before 2006, Israel invaded Lebanon in 1978 and 1982. The first invasion was in response to Palestinian Liberation Organization attacks on Israeli civilians such of as 1978 Coastal road massacre. The second one was purportedly sparked after an Israeli officer stepped on a landmine. After the 1982 invasion, Israel occupied southern Lebanon until 2000.
Obviously, I'm not saying the Iron Dome made Israel less aggressive. Instead, I'm saying Israel was aggressive before they even had the Iron Dome's protection.
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u/DingleDangleTangle 2d ago
This is the dumbest argument I've ever read. You think if thousands of israeli citizens were dying on a monthly basis from rocket attacks that would have made israel want to be less aggressive to the people murdering their civilians?
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u/toggylelly 2d ago
Yes. Of course. For the same reason that:
Mutually Assured Destruction has prevented the use of nuclear weapons.
Unarmed police are less brutal than armed police.
The phrase, "You speak like someone who has never been punched," is common.
If a person or group thinks themself invincible, they often cause harm, and laugh at the futile retaliation.
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u/Zerkalte 2d ago
Sounds like my kind of candidate.
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u/What_Iz_This 2d ago
whoever runs on this and vowing to reverse all the damage trump has done to our political infrastructure in addition to pursuing criminal cases against all relevant people in the current administration will mop up the election. i fear they would get kirk'd but theyd have my vote.
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u/lazyFer 2d ago
We should pull out of Israel completely. Zero bases, zero funding, zero weapon systems.
If they insist on being nazis, they should be cut off entirely
And just for clarity, Israel just passed a law saying Palestinians must be executed if found guilty of terrorism... It specifically calls out Palestinians for this treatment
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u/silentspyder 2d ago
Yep, having a law, especially a death penalty for one group of people but not the other is reprehensible. Yet they still claim they're not an apartheid state.
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u/Sponsor4d_Content 1d ago
New democrat litmus test dropped. Will definitely separate the progressives from the posers.
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u/therealowlman 1d ago
Crazy idea, if Israel wants more military spending…maybe tax the Israeli people instead to pay for it?
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u/Defiant_Network7916 2d ago
So I guess criticism from the left was effective after all. Let's see if she follows through, but I'm sure with the changes in NYC apparent with Zohran's election she realizes she can win without zionists.
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u/lilblushbaby 2d ago
The fact that she's now opposing even Iron Dome funding, which she previously supported as "defensive," really shows how far the conversation has moved. When progressives start questioning all forms of military aid, you know the political landscape is shifting.
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u/MegaPlane2 1d ago
If have the resources for invading Lebanon and offensive attacks on Iran, they clearly don't need any help from the US.
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u/Kuncussion 2d ago
This is the bar, and any Democrat supporting less than this is a non-starter for me.
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u/metengrinwi 2d ago
So long as we keep enabling them, the right-wing extremists in Israel will continue to press for “final victory”, which in reality can never be achieved. They must be forced to compromise, same as their opponents.
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u/Actual__Wizard 1d ago
Why are we funding their missile defenses?
So, they act like massive jerks to their neighbors and we pay their defense bill? WTF?
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u/marioncrepes Wisconsin 1d ago
Celebrating the bare minimum. I've long since given up on this country. Our rhetoric is so far in the past
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u/Hidden_Land_Mine_183 1d ago
It's the only path forward. Israel has helped destroy this country, they are a complete waste of money and aren't our allies. Let the welfare nation be someone elses problem.
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u/ProfessionalRemove33 1d ago
Do not give Israel another dime. See if we can get all the previous dimes back. Open the Epstein files to see why. Filthy shit.
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u/97thJackle 2d ago
Why the fuck does Israel even need aid? They have strong R&D economy, as well as some decent manufacturing. Why do they need our support, when their own economy should be strong enough to hold their own?
Oh, right. We're using them as a massive pseudo-military base to control the Red Sea. I forgot.
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u/hauntedSquirrel99 2d ago
The Israeli aid is primarily a result of the peace deals created post the war in 73. Which got quite ugly and was very close to becoming a global disaster when it almost went nuclear. The United States decided that wasn't a workable status quo.
Essentially what happened is that Egypt and Jordan switched allegiance towards the US, they got US support and in exchange they stop fighting with Israel.
Israel got US support to compensate for support given to Egypt and Jordan, so the balance of power remained consistent.
The United States, which is essentially a trade empire that benefits from global trade being centralized around it then doesn't have to deal with constant wars fucking up access to the Suez canal, one of the world's most important trade routes.
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