Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) struggled to justify her calls for a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the Daily Caller reported. The terrorist organization killed over a thousand people in Israel on Oct. 7 in a coordinated surprise attack.
Cortez and other leftist radical Democrats have signed onto a letter calling for an end to violence on both sides of the conflict. However, CNN's Abby Phillip rightly leaned on Cortez to explain what the Israelis should do after such a savage attack from Hamas.
"What is Israel supposed to do about Hamas after they murdered, brutalized, abducted over a thousand of their citizens? Are they supposed to just do nothing?" Phillip pressed Ocasio-Cortez.
The leftist Democrat doubled down on the unrealistic idea that both sides would simply put down their weapons and get along. "What is important is for us to identify our goal in terms of what safety means, in terms of what defense means," Ocasio-Cortez claimed.
The host wouldn't let Ocasio-Cortez off the hook with such a weak answer. "I think the position from Israel’s perspective is that there was already an attack, and Hamas already committed that attack," Phillip pointed out.
"After that happened, do you really believe that they should not respond to that?" the anchor asked, attempting to pin down Ocasio-Cortez to a firm position on the matter. The New York Democrat conceded that Israel may defend itself, but she admonished them for imposing "collective punishment" on Palestinians.
Ocasio-Cortez said that moves like the "blockade on water, food, electricity" and use of white phosphorous weapons was perhaps outside of that allowance. Instead, she suggests a "discussion" to determine what constitutes proper self-defense for Israel.
"We should identify what our goal is, which is the cooling of tensions in the region," Ocasio-Cortez claimed. Phillip continued to lean on the congresswoman.
"Israel’s goal is to rid the region of Hamas. They’ve been very clear about that," Phillip pointed out.
"For Israel to deal with Hamas, which is a force that is actually detrimental to Palestinians, how else are they supposed to address a violent, militant, some say, terrorist group, other than to go in there and take them on directly?" the host went on. Ocasio-Cortez said that President Joe Biden was already discouring Israel from starting a ground war.
However, Ocasio-Cortez admitted that it is an "inherently complex situation" in the region. "I do believe that Hamas needs to be dealt with," she finally admitted.
"But ‘how? I think is what I’m trying to understand," Phillip again pursued her. This seemed to trip up Ocasio-Cortez though she ultimately fell on the side against Israel.
"I think, what we’re trying to figure out right now is that this present situation of collective punishment and indiscriminate attack, is one approach and we are seeing the issues and the complications with that approach now. Can we target them in terms of intelligence? Is there precision? What are the options available, are entirely up to the administration and for Israel to examine and explore," Ocasio-Cortez rambled.
Democrats are notorious for siding with the wrong parties in most conflicts, but especially when it involves Israel. However, it's particularly troubling that Ocasio-Cortez's knee-jerk reaction was to apologize for the Islamic terrorists despite their role in starting up the conflict.
