But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Ocasio-Cortez said in April 2026 she will oppose any more U.S. military aid to Israel, including for Iron Dome, which she says Israel can fund itself. In February 2026 she said unconditional U.S. aid "enabled a genocide in Gaza." She cosponsors the Block the Bombs Act.
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You asked Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez where they stand.
Deep Dive
Ocasio-Cortez represents New York's 14th District, in the Bronx and Queens, and is running for re-election.
On April 1, 2026, she said "I will not support Congress sending more taxpayer dollars and military aid to a government that consistently ignores international law and US law," and that Israel is fully capable of funding "Iron Dome and other defensive systems" itself. The evening before, at a Democratic Socialists of America forum, a member asked whether she would vote no on any spending on arms for Israel, including "so-called 'defensive capabilities'." She answered "Yes."
That is a change from where she stood a year earlier. In July 2025 she voted against an amendment to cut $500 million for Israel's missile defense, saying it would "cut off defensive Iron Dome capacities while allowing the actual bombs killing Palestinians to continue." That vote is the one tracked vote on this card that counts toward sending weapons or funding. In July 2026 she voted for an amendment to bar the next year's funds for Israel and cut $3.3 billion in military financing, which the House rejected.
She first called Israel's campaign in Gaza an "unfolding genocide" in a House floor speech in March 2024, urging the administration to suspend weapons transfers. At the Munich Security Conference in February 2026 she said unconditional U.S. aid "enabled a genocide in Gaza" and that "the idea of completely unconditional aid, no matter what one does, does not make sense."
She is one of the original cosponsors of the Block the Bombs Act, introduced in May 2025, which would bar transfers of 2,000-pound bombs and other heavy munitions to Israel.
The record
Supported sending weapons or funding in 1 of 6 tracked votes · Cosponsors the Block the Bombs Act
• Vote record imported from official House Clerk roll calls for H.R. 6126, H.R. 8034, and H.R. 8369. Other position fields remain under investigation.
How this mark works
We track key votes on sending U.S. weapons and money to the government of Israel. A check means every tracked vote they cast came down against sending more, on the side of peace and de-escalation. A question mark means a mixed record: they sided with sending up to half of the time. An X means they voted to send more weapons and money in over half of their tracked votes, even as the way those weapons and dollars were being used became more and more obvious. At exactly half, money this election cycle from a lobbying group we track, or an endorsement from a group that backs sending weapons, makes it an X. Only votes actually cast are counted. Where a candidate has no recorded votes on these bills, the mark comes instead from a reviewed reading of their public record (money from the lobbying groups we track, endorsements, and their own words since January 26, 2024). There an X also covers fully backing the conduct of the war by the government of Israel without significant reservations, and a question mark also covers speaking about Israel without saying clearly where they stand on U.S. weapons and funding. A dash means No Position Found: we found nothing in their own words about Israel, Gaza or the war.
See a dash? Ask the candidate where they stand, then send us their answer and we'll review it and update the mark. Or volunteer to help review candidates.
She has moved away from her 2025 vote to keep funding Israel's defensive systems and now says she will vote against all military aid to Israel; she takes no money from the lobbying groups we track and has called the war in Gaza a genocide. Reconsidered on 2026-10-20. (Supported sending weapons or funding in 1 of 6 tracked votes.)
The money
Checked the five lobbying groups we track; no direct 2026 support found
In their words
Peace Action (2026 endorsement) · Track AIPAC (2026 endorsement)
Research log
The notes behind this card: what we looked at, what we found, and where each item came from.
U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel
- 2026-04-01 [Current position; VERIFIED]: The Guardian, published 2026-04-02, headline "AOC vows to block future US military aid to Israel, including for defensive systems". She said she will oppose any future U.S. military aid to Israel, including for defensive systems, that Israel was fully capable of funding "Iron Dome and other defensive systems", and, at a Democratic Socialists of America forum the previous evening: "Our allies who need our military aid must understand that we will provide it consistent with the Leahy amendment and the foreign assistance act". Read on the page.
The same report notes Rep. Ro Khanna echoed her, saying Iron Dome is "important & saves lives" but Israel "should be able to buy it on their own", without committing on future votes.
- Undated, before 2026-04 [Current position; VERIFIED; THE POSITION SHE MOVED FROM]: The same report recalls her explaining an earlier vote against a proposal to cut Iron Dome funding: it did nothing "to cut off offensive aid to Israel nor end the flow of US munitions being used in Gaza", and "What it does do is cut off defensive Iron Dome capacities while allowing the actual bombs killing Palestinians to continue." This is the distinction between defensive and offensive aid that her 2026 statement abandons, and it is the reason the card says "including defensive systems" rather than leaving it implied.
- 2026-07-15 [Current position; tracked vote]: She voted yes on Rep. Massie's amendment to bar FY2027 funds for Israel and cut $3.3 billion from Foreign Military Financing; the House rejected it, 104-314. She is also reported, in late June 2026, to have filed an amendment to condition future arms transfers on compliance with international law; no source page for that was found.
- 2026-03-31 [Current position; VERIFIED]: At the New York City DSA forum, asked "If the moment presents itself in Congress, will you commit to voting no for any spending on arms for Israel, including so-called 'defensive capabilities'?", she answered "Yes." The Guardian, which also quotes her statement of the next day: "I will not support Congress sending more taxpayer dollars and military aid to a government that consistently ignores international law and US law".
- 2025-07-18 [Current position; tracked vote]: She voted no on Rep. Greene's amendment to strike $500 million for Israeli Cooperative Programs (Iron Dome and other missile defense), which failed 6-422; her explanation is quoted above.
- 2025-05-21 [Current position]: An original cosponsor of the Block the Bombs Act (H.R. 3565), per Rep. Ramirez's release.
- 2026-07-22 [Current position; reported, not confirmed]: She is reported to have criticized proposed defence legislation deepening joint U.S. and Israeli research and military integration, calling the integration measure an "existential threat to American sovereignty and democracy". No separate source page was offered.
- 2024-03-22 [Current position]: In a House floor speech she urged the administration to enforce U.S. foreign assistance laws and immediately suspend weapons transfers to Israel over the blockading of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Reported by JNS on 2024-03-25.
- 2023-11-01 [Months after October 7, 2023; on this page only]: She introduced a House amendment prohibiting U.S. military aid to Israel being used to transfer or deploy white phosphorus in civilian areas.
- 2021-09-17 [Earlier record, before the current period]: She introduced an NDAA amendment to block the transfer of $735 million in precision-guided munitions to Israel, citing civilian casualties in Gaza (Times of Israel, 2021-09-18). Kept out of the card summary because prior-band material may only appear at the end of a card as history, and her current-position material is stronger and more current.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
- 2024-03-22 [Current position]: Her floor speech ties the demand to suspend weapons transfers to the blockading of humanitarian aid into Gaza, which is an aid-access argument rather than a U.S. funding position. No statement located on UNRWA or on U.S. humanitarian appropriations as such.
Characterization of the conflict
- 2026-02-13 [Current position; VERIFIED]: At the Munich Security Conference, answering a Haaretz reporter on military aid to Israel: "I think it enabled a genocide in Gaza" and "the idea of completely unconditional aid, no matter what one does, does not make sense". The Hill, 2026-02-14, read in its AOL syndication.
- 2024-03-22 [Current position]: In the same floor speech she characterized the campaign and humanitarian crisis in Gaza as an "unfolding genocide" and a "forced famine".
- 2023-10-09 [Months after October 7, 2023; on this page only]: Her statement condemning the October 7 attacks "in the strongest possible terms" while saying "violence will not solve the ongoing oppression and occupation in the region" and calling for an immediate ceasefire.
- 2026-08-10 [Current position; press analysis]: El País on Israel's declining influence in Democratic primaries.
Rhetoric and lobbying
[A money-and-lobbying argument must never read as a weapons or funding position. Her funding position is separately sourced above and carries the card on its own.]
- 2023-10-31 [Months after October 7, 2023]: She called AIPAC an "extremist organization that destabilizes US democracy" and "one of the more racist and bigoted PACs in Congress" (Times of Israel).
- 2024-02-21 [Current position]: She called AIPAC the "NRA of foreign policy" (Truthout).
- 2024-05-24 [Current position]: She described AIPAC as "insurrectionist-supporting".
- 2026-08-05 [Current position]: She posted that AIPAC is "an org committed to undermining democracy at home and abroad" and does not belong in Democratic primaries.
Safety and antisemitism
[Context only, never the answer to what America sends.]
- 2024-06-10 [Current position]: She hosted a livestreamed panel titled "Antisemitism and the Fight for Democracy" with leaders from the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and a former Anti-Defamation League official, saying "antisemitism, hate and violence against Jews because of their identity is real and it is dangerous", that the progressive movement is undermined when rhetoric crosses into harm against Jewish people, that criticism of the Israeli government or Zionism is not inherently antisemitic, and that some actors "weaponize" false accusations of antisemitism against women and people of colour. Covered by Jewish Insider; a Mediaite report on it would not open.
- 2024-07-11 [Current position]: Democratic Socialists of America pulled its endorsement of her after that panel. Notable because the DSA forum is where she made the 2026 statement on the card.
What came back empty or unusable
- One YouTube source and one Mediaite report could not be read.
- No source page was found for the June 2026 conditioning amendment or the July 2026 integration criticism, so both are reported, not quoted.
Also in this race
- ?Mixed Diamant Hysenaj (Republican)
All New York candidates.
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