Ocasio-Cortez says via podcast that reducing aid to Israel should be ‘on the table’

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who has compared retaliatory Israeli actions at the Gaza border against demonstrators urged on by Hamas to a “massacre,” said on Sunday that decreasing the annual $3.8 billion in U.S. taxpayer assistance to Israel should certainly be “on the table.”

When asked on Yahoo News’ Skullduggery podcast, “Would you be in favor of reducing military or economic aid to Israel,” the congresswoman answered, “I mean, I think it’s on the table. I think it’s certainly on the table, and I think it’s something that can be discussed.”

“And I think that—and I also acknowledge my role in this as well in that I hope to play a facilitating role in this conversation and a supportive role in this conversation, but I also know there are people that have been leading on this for a long time, like Congresswoman [Betty] McCollum,” she continued.

McCollum, a Democratic congresswoman from Minnesota, has a history of anti-Israel actions, including introducing a bill in November 2017 that would have mandated the U.S. government to certify that its military funding to Israel not be used for “Israeli military’s ongoing detention and mistreatment of Palestinian children.”

In October, McCollum accused Israel of being an “apartheid” state.

Also on the podcast, Ocasio-Cortez compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s re-election last week to “the ascent of authoritarianism across the world,” and said that his victory should affect American policy on Israel.”

The Jewish Democratic Council of America criticized Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks, urging her to speak to fellow Democratic representatives on the issue.

“We recommend she engage with Dem leaders Eliot Engel, Nita Lowey, & Congressman Ted Deutch before contemplating the future of US military aid to Israel. US-Israel ties must supersede politics,” the group wrote on Facebook.