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Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez submitted an amendment to the annual U.S. Defense Spending Bill to block the sale of precision guided munitions to Israel.
According to a statement released by his office Thursday, the resolution would prevent the transfer of $ 735 million in Joint Direct Attack Ammunition (JDAM) tail kits to Israel. The kits transform unguided bombs into GPS guided missiles.
Ocasio-Cortez also submitted amendments to prevent arms sales to Saudi Arabia and Colombia due to alleged human rights violations.
The New York lawmaker, a leading member of the so-called “squad” of Progressive Democrats, submitted a similar measure in May during fighting between Israel and the ruling Hamas terror group in Gaza.
In a tweet, Ocasio-Cortez said the amendment relating to Israel concerned “the bombing of Palestinian civilians, media centers,” apparently referring to the bombing of a building in Gaza City that housed the offices of the Associated Press and Al-Jazeera. .
Israel said the building was used by Hamas in an attempt to disrupt the Iron Dome missile defense system during the 11-day conflict in May. The Israeli military gave the occupants of the building an hour to evacuate before the airstrike. No one was hurt, but the skyscraper was flattened into a pile of rubble.
In this year’s NDAA, I introduced 7 changes, including blocking specific US arms transactions for:
– The Saudi government after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi
– Colombia rules its violent crackdown on protesters, &
– Israeli government on bombardment of Palestinian civilians, media centers https://t.co/eMHIApDLAk
– Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 17, 2021
Like the previous measure, the amendment appears highly unlikely to be approved, in light of the strong support for Israel in both the US House and Senate. However, it could reignite the debate over Israel in Congress, where a growing number of Democrats have started to take a more critical stance against the longtime ally.
The Biden administration informed Congress of the JDAM sale on May 5, five days before the violence began in Gaza.
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