Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has been receiving briefings from Matt Duss, an outspoken critic of the U.S.-Israel alliance and former foreign policy advisor to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), as she prepares for a high-profile appearance at the Munich Security Conference next week, The New York Times reported on Friday.

Duss, who is now executive vice president at the Center for International Policy, a left-wing think tank, has long been a prominent detractor of U.S. relations with Israel. He has called for blocking aid to Israel and has expressed opposition to renewing the 10-year memorandum of understanding, which is set to expire in 2028 and currently provides $3.8 billion in military funding to Israel annually.

He has also cast doubt on the Abraham Accords, accusing the normalization agreements between Israel and several Arab countries of using “racist logic” that is “premised on the perpetual repression of Palestinians” and helping to fuel Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks. Duss has frequently called Israel’s resulting war in Gaza a genocide.

“I don’t think a Democrat can be nominated in ‘28 without acknowledging that it is a genocide,” Duss suggested in an interview with The Financial Times last September.

While it is no secret that Ocasio-Cortez largely shares such views, her decision to seek guidance from Duss and others at his organization, as the Times reported, provides insight into her efforts to burnish her progressive foreign policy credentials amid speculation that she could run for higher office in 2028.

The congresswoman, who was first elected in 2018, has struggled to articulate her views on the Middle East, even as she has positioned herself as a leading opponent of U.S. aid to Israel in response to the war in Gaza.

In an interview shortly before she assumed office, Ocasio-Cortez faced scrutiny for stumbling through responses about Israel, acknowledging she was “not the expert on geopolitics on this issue.” In 2021, she likewise strained to clarify her own positions on the region during a rare instance of public engagement with a mainstream Jewish group in New York City.

Months later, she was seen weeping on the House floor while switching her vote from “no” to “present” on a widely approved measure to provide Israel with $1 billion in supplemental funding for its Iron Dome missile-defense system — a decision for which she later voiced regret.

In Munich next week, Ocasio-Cortez is expected to speak about populist political movements and the United States’ role on the global stage, according to the Times. 

“She is someone who is engaged with parts of the world that are often not represented in Munich,” Duss told the publication.

The Center for International Policy, founded in 1975, says on its website that it seeks to “advance a more peaceful, just, and sustainable U.S. approach to foreign policy.” The organization has previously transferred grant funds to the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, an isolationist think tank that has promoted sympathetic positions on Iran, according to 2022 tax filings.

Duss did not respond to a request for comment on Friday, nor did a spokesperson for Ocasio-Cortez.