Ocasio-Cortez: Unconditional US Military Aid to Israel "Enabled Genocide" in Gaza

US Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (from New York) stated that unconditional US military aid to Israel contributed to "enabling a genocide in Gaza," calling for a reconsideration of this support and linking it to US law, particularly the "Leahy Law," which prohibits funding foreign security units when credible information exists about their involvement in gross human rights violations.

Ocasio-Cortez's remarks came during a session at the Munich Security Conference on Friday, which addressed the future of US foreign policy. In response to a question from Israeli journalist Hagar Shezaf of Haaretz about whether the Democratic Party's candidate in the 2028 elections should re-evaluate aid to Israel, the representative replied that the issue "is not just about a presidential election," but about the necessity for the United States to adhere to its laws.

Ocasio-Cortez clarified that she believes "unconditional aid, no matter what the other party does, doesn't seem logical," considering that this approach contributed to the deaths of "thousands of women and children" in Gaza, describing it as "avoidable." She added that applying the Leahy Laws is "appropriate" when serious violations emerge, because these laws obligate Washington to halt funding in such cases.

The Leahy Law, named after former US Senator Patrick Leahy, prohibits the provision of support from the Departments of Defense and State to units of foreign security forces if credible information is available linking them to the commission of significant violations. However, the application of these laws to Israel has long been a subject of debate in Washington, despite the State Department's assertion that Israeli units are subject to the same standards as any other country.

Charles Blaha, former director of the office responsible for auditing "Leahy" at the US State Department, said that Israel being subject to the same standards might be true "in theory," but it is "not true in practice," referring to what he sees as a double standard in application.

In contrast, US Ambassador to NATO Matt Whitaker refrained from directly answering a question about re-evaluating aid, merely stating that Israel is "one of the United States' closest allies," a response that reflected the continued political sensitivity within the official US establishment regarding any public discussion about the conditions of military support.

In another context, Ocasio-Cortez had earlier attacked President Donald Trump, accusing him of seeking to usher the United States into an "era of authoritarianism" through a foreign policy based on withdrawal and redistribution of global influence. She said that Trump and his Secretary of State Marco Rubio are working to "pull the United States out of the world" to create a system that allows him to dominate the Western Hemisphere and Latin America, while giving Russia wider leeway to pressure Europe.

The representative presented what she called an "alternative vision" for a leftist foreign policy, calling for a return to a "rules-based order," but without the "hypocrisy" of traditional American policy, referring to the double standards between American rhetoric on human rights and its actual policies towards its allies.

Recent developments indicate that the issue of the war in Gaza is poised to play an increasing role in the Democratic Party's electoral calculations. While the extent of the issue's impact on the 2028 elections remains unclear, a number of Democratic names being floated as potential candidates have already begun to face embarrassing questions about aid to Israel, amidst an internal division between a traditional current that favors continuing the previous approach, and a more critical one that adopts rhetoric similar to Ocasio-Cortez's.

Ocasio-Cortez's statements reflect a shift in the debate within the Democratic Party from the level of moral objection to the level of legal accountability. Invoking the Leahy Laws does not just raise a political question, but puts Washington to the test of applying the law to allies as well as adversaries. This shift could open the door to increased institutional and media pressure, especially with the expanding international documentation of war victims in Gaza, and the difficulty of continuing the discourse of "unconditional support" without internal cost.

According to observers, what confuses Democrats is that Gaza has become an intersection point between domestic politics and international discourse. On the one hand, the party attacks Trump as a threat to the existing rules-based global order, and on the other hand, it finds itself accused of double standards due to continued military support for Israel. If the party fails to produce a new formula that balances alliance and accountability, the issue could turn into a renewed electoral burden in 2028, especially among the youth and progressive wing of the party.