Connect with us

RSS

Ocasio-Cortez Boasts of Spearheading ‘Whip Operation’ Against Supplemental Aid to Israel

US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks during a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on March 21, 2024. Photo: Craig Hudson/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) boasted on Tuesday about leading a “whip operation” to garner votes among fellow lawmakers against additional military aid to Israel.

Ocasio-Cortez, one of the most prominent anti-Israel critics in Congress, detailed her efforts to deprive the Jewish state of military arms at a time of war during an “action call” with the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). The progressive lawmaker claimed that she helped persuade nearly 40 members of Congress to vote against aid to Israel, urging DSA to stay patient while the ideological left continues to gradually steer the Democratic Party against the Jewish state.

Given the unfolding and ongoing genocide in Gaza, this has been an extraordinarily challenging year for the world, for a human rights movement, and for the broader left,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

“I think it’s important as well to note some of the progress that we have made federally this year,” she continued. “Earlier this year, I led a whip operation to organize a record high number of no votes on Israel’s supplemental vote, in order to withhold offensive weaponry on human rights conditions from the Israeli government.”

Ocasio-Cortez did not specify which specific legislation she helped oppose, although she may have been referring to a broad foreign aid package signed into law by US President Joe Biden in April that included about $15 billion in military assistance for Israel.

Ocasio-Cortez touted her success in delivering 37 “no” votes from the Democratic caucus, adding that these members of Congress were not exclusively from the far-left flank of the party. She stressed that progressives need to “broaden” the anti-Israel movement into an ideologically diverse coalition. 

The congresswoman also took shots at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a prominent pro-Israel lobbying group based in Washington, DC, over its alleged “influence” over Congress, claiming that the organization has engaged in an “effort to unseat and target virtually any member of Congress that seriously challenges their power.” She also accused AIPAC of targeting “members of color” despite its support for several minority candidates, arguing that young progressives need to fight vigorously “for the human rights of Palestinians” and that the Palestinians have “very little political defense in the United States.”

DSA has ramped up its anti-Israel rhetoric since the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7. On the day of the atrocities, the far-left organization issued a statement saying that Hamas’s invasion was a “direct result of Israel’s apartheid regime.” The organization also encouraged its followers to attend an Oct. 8 “All Out for Palestine” event in Manhattan.

In January, DSA called for an “end to diplomatic and military support of Israel.” Then in April, the organization’s international committee, DSA IC, issued a missive defending Iran’s right to “self-defense” against the Jewish state. In addition, the socialist group slammed outgoing US Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) over his vote in favor of replenishing Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system. 

DSA’s New York City chapter previously repudiated Ocasio-Cortez over her support of a November 2023 House resolution which affirmed Israel’s “right to exist.” The national organization subsequently revoked its endorsement of her in July 2024, accusing the progressive firebrand of being insufficiently committed to the Palestinian cause.

Ocasio-Cortez recently received an onslaught of criticism from anti-Israel progressives over her decision to vote in favor of a resolution “condemning the rise of global antisemitism.” However, her participation in Tuesday’s “action call” may indicate that the congresswoman has mended fences with DSA.

The post Ocasio-Cortez Boasts of Spearheading ‘Whip Operation’ Against Supplemental Aid to Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

RSS

Security Warning to Israelis Vacationing Abroad Ahead of holidays

A passenger arrives to a terminal at Ben Gurion international airport before Israel bans international flights, January 25, 2021. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

i24 NewsAhead of the Jewish High Holidays, Israel’s National Security Council (NSC) published the latest threat assessment to Israelis abroad from terrorist groups to the public on Sunday, in order to increase the Israeli public’s awareness of the existing terrorist threats around the world and encourage individuals to take preventive action accordingly.

The NSC specified that the warning is an up-to-date reflection of the main trends in the activities of terrorist groups around the world and their impact on the level of threat posed to Israelis abroad during these times, but the travel warnings and restrictions themselves are not new.

“As the Gaza war continues and in parallel with the increasing threat of terrorism, the National Security Headquarters stated it has recognized a trend of worsening and increasing violent antisemitic incidents and escalating steps by anti-Israel groups, to the point of physically harming Israelis and Jews abroad. This is in light of, among other things, the anti-Israel narrative and the negative media campaign by pro-Palestinian elements — a trend that may encourage and motivate extremist elements to carry out terrorist activities against Israelis or Jews abroad,” the statement read.

“Therefore, the National Security Bureau is reinforcing its recommendation to the Israeli public to act with responsibility during this time when traveling abroad, to check the status of the National Security Bureau’s travel warnings (before purchasing tickets to the destination,) and to act in accordance with the travel warning recommendations and the level of risk in the country they are visiting,” it listed, adding that, as illustrated in the past year, these warnings are well-founded and reflect a tangible and valid threat potential.

The statement also emphasized the risk of sharing content on social media networks indicating current or past service in the Israeli security forces, as these posts increase the risk of being marked by various parties as a target. “Therefore, the National Security Council recommends that you do not upload to social networks, in any way, content that indicates service in the security forces, operational activity, or similar content, as well as real-time locations.”

Continue Reading

RSS

Israel Intensifies Gaza City Bombing as Rubio Arrives

Displaced Palestinians, fleeing northern Gaza due to an Israeli military operation, move southward after Israeli forces ordered residents of Gaza City to evacuate to the south, in the central Gaza Strip September 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Israeli forces destroyed at least 30 residential buildings in Gaza City and forced thousands of people from their homes, Palestinian officials said, as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived on Sunday to discuss the future of the conflict.

Israel has said it plans to seize the city, where about a million Palestinians have been sheltering, as part of its declared aim of eliminating the terrorist group Hamas, and has intensified attacks on what it has called Hamas’ last bastion.

The group’s political leadership, which has engaged in on-and-off negotiations on a possible ceasefire and hostage release deal, was targeted by Israel in an airstrike in Doha on Tuesday in an attack that drew widespread condemnation.

Qatar will host an emergency Arab-Islamic summit on Monday to discuss the next moves. Rubio said Washington wanted to talk about how to free the 48 hostages – of whom 20 are believed to be still alive – still held by Hamas in Gaza and rebuild the coastal strip.

“What’s happened, has happened,” he said. “We’re gonna meet with them (the Israeli leadership). We’re gonna talk about what the future holds,” Rubio said before heading to Israel where he will stay until Tuesday.

ABRAHAM ACCORDS AT RISK

He was expected to visit the Western Wall Jewish prayer site in Jerusalem on Sunday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and hold talks with him during the visit.

US officials described Tuesday’s strike on the territory of a close US ally as a unilateral escalation that did not serve American or Israeli interests. Rubio and US President Donald Trump both met Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani on Friday.

Netanyahu signed an agreement on Thursday to push ahead with a settlement expansion plan that would cut across West Bank land that the Palestinians seek for a state – a move the United Arab Emirates warned would undermine the US-brokered Abraham accords that normalized UAE relations with Israel.

Israel, which blocked all food from entering Gaza for 11 weeks earlier this year, has been allowing more aid into the enclave since late July to prevent further food shortages, though the United Nations says far more is needed.

It says it wants civilians to leave Gaza City before it sends more ground forces in. Tens of thousands of people are estimated to have left but hundreds of thousands remain in the area. Hamas has called on people not to leave.

Israeli army forces have been operating inside at least four eastern suburbs for weeks, turning most of at least three of them into wastelands. It is closing in on the center and the western areas of the territory, where most of the displaced people are taking shelter.

Many are reluctant to leave, saying there is not enough space or safety in the south, where Israel has told them to go to what it has designated as a humanitarian zone.

Some say they cannot afford to leave while others say they were hoping the Arab leaders meeting on Monday in Qatar would pressure Israel to scrap its planned offensive.

“The bombardment intensified everywhere and we took down the tents, more than twenty families, we do not know where to go,” said Musbah Al-Kafarna, displaced in Gaza City.

Israel said it had completed five waves of air strikes on Gaza City over the past week, targeting more than 500 sites, including Hamas reconnaissance and sniper sites, buildings containing tunnel openings and weapons depots.

Local officials, who do not distinguish between militant and civilian casualties, say at least 40 people were killed by Israeli fire across the enclave, a least 28 in Gaza City alone.

Continue Reading

RSS

Turkey Warns of Escalation as Israel Expands Strikes Beyond Gaza

Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (not seen) at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, May 13, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas

i24 NewsAn Israeli strike targeting Hamas officials in Qatar has sparked unease among several Middle Eastern countries that host leaders of the group, with Turkey among the most alarmed.

Officials in Ankara are increasingly worried about how far Israel might go in pursuing those it holds responsible for the October 7 attacks.

Israel’s prime minister effectively acknowledged that the Qatar operation failed to eliminate the Hamas leadership, while stressing the broader point the strike was meant to make: “They enjoy no immunity,” the government said.

On X, Prime Minister Netanyahu went further, writing that “the elimination of Hamas leaders would put an end to the war.”

A senior Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, summed up Ankara’s reaction: “The attack in Qatar showed that the Israeli government is ready to do anything.”

Legally and diplomatically, Turkey occupies a delicate position. As a NATO member, any military operation or targeted killing on its soil could inflame tensions within the alliance and challenge mutual security commitments.

Analysts caution, however, that Israel could opt for covert measures, operations carried out without public acknowledgement, a prospect that has increased anxiety in governments across the region.

Israeli officials remain defiant. In an interview with Ynet, Minister Ze’ev Elkin said: “As long as we have not stopped them, we will pursue them everywhere in the world and settle our accounts with them.” The episode underscores growing fears that efforts to hunt Hamas figures beyond Gaza could widen regional friction and complicate diplomatic relationships.

Continue Reading

Copyright © 2017 - 2023 Jewish Post & News