But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check

Nick Begich III

Republican · U.S. House, Alaska District 1
✗Supported sending weapons or funding in 2 of 2 tracked votes

In the Alaska Beacon’s 2024 voter guide Begich said “The United States should fully support Israel with intelligence and arms to help eliminate Hamas”. He has not returned to that question since taking office, and nothing located has him addressing U.S. aid to Palestinians.

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Deep Dive

Nick Begich III is the Republican who holds Alaska’s single at-large House seat. He took office on January 3, 2025, succeeding Mary Peltola, and sits on the Natural Resources, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Science, Space and Technology committees. On November 3, 2026 the seat is filled by ranked-choice voting, and the ballot carries Begich, Eric Hafner, a Democrat, Jim McDermott, a Libertarian, and Bill Hill, who is registered nonpartisan. All four reached it through Alaska’s top-four primary of August 18, 2026, whose results were certified on August 31, 2026. Begich finished first.

What he has said about American weapons and money for the government of Israel is one answer, given as a candidate in 2024. The Alaska Beacon put the same fifteen questions to every candidate for this seat and printed the replies under each candidate’s own name. Asked what the United States should do to resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict, Begich wrote that the United States should fully support Israel with intelligence and arms to help eliminate Hamas and other regional terrorist threats, and that this military support is crucial for Israel’s defense and stability. By providing advanced intelligence and weaponry, he wrote, the United States could help that government meet immediate threats and keep a strategic advantage in the region. He also asked Washington to reinstitute sanctions targeting state sponsors of terrorism, which he said would cut off money and material to terrorist organizations, and said that combining military support with economic pressure would reinforce the commitment to Israel’s right to defend itself and its sovereignty. Nothing in that answer, or anywhere else our research reached, is about humanitarian aid to Palestinians.

He has not gone back to it since. Every press release his House office has issued since January 2025 was read for this card, and not one of them mentions Israel, Gaza or Palestinians. The six subject pages on his House site are Congress, the economy, education, energy, health and veterans, and none of them is about foreign policy. His campaign site sets out eleven headings, all of them about Alaska or domestic federal policy. He has published no statement explaining either of the recorded votes on this page, so this card puts no words to them. His statement on American military action in Iran, the endorsement he was given in 2024, and what he said as a candidate in the weeks after the October 7 attack are all on his research page.

The record

Supported sending weapons or funding in 2 of 2 tracked votes

Floor votes
H.R. 8595 - Massie amendment (Part A No. 8) to bar FY27 funds for Israel and cut $3.3B in Foreign Military Financing2026-07-15 · Failed 104-314
✗ Voted No
voted against limiting it
H.Amdt. 55 to H.R. 4016 - strike $500M for Israeli Cooperative Programs2025-07-18 · Failed 6-422 (only 6 voted to cut)
✗ Voted No
voted against limiting it
Bill sponsorship
H.R. 3565 - Block the Bombs ActWould bar transfer of 2,000-lb/BLU-109 bunker busters, JDAMs, 120mm tank rounds, and 155mm artillery shells to Israel. Does not affect Iron
Not sponsoringhas not backed this restriction bill
H.R. 1229 - United States-Israel Defense Partnership Act of 2025Formalizes/expands bilateral defense cooperation with Israel.
Not sponsoringhas not backed this support bill
How this mark works

We track key votes on sending U.S. weapons and money to the government of Israel. A check means every tracked vote they cast came down against sending more, on the side of peace and de-escalation. A question mark means a mixed record: they sided with sending up to half of the time. An X means they voted to send more weapons and money in over half of their tracked votes, even as the way those weapons and dollars were being used became more and more obvious. At exactly half, money this election cycle from a lobbying group we track, or an endorsement from a group that backs sending weapons, makes it an X. Only votes actually cast are counted. Where a candidate has no recorded votes on these bills, the mark comes instead from a reviewed reading of their public record (money from the lobbying groups we track, endorsements, and their own words since January 26, 2024). There an X also covers fully backing the conduct of the war by the government of Israel without significant reservations, and a question mark also covers speaking about Israel without saying clearly where they stand on U.S. weapons and funding. A dash means No Position Found: we found nothing in their own words about Israel, Gaza or the war.

See a dash? Ask the candidate where they stand, then send us their answer and we'll review it and update the mark. Or volunteer to help review candidates.

Voted to send weapons or funding in more than half of their recorded tracked votes. (Supported sending weapons or funding in 2 of 2 tracked votes.)

The money

$15K in lifetime support from the five lobbying groups we track

Lifetime support from the five lobbying groups we track
AIPAC PAC: $10,000 · Republican Jewish Coalition: $5,000
Support-only OpenFEC data (as of 2026-10-03). Opposition independent expenditures are excluded.
Who these lobbying groups are
AIPAC$10,000The American Israel Public Affairs Committee; its PAC backs candidates it sees as strengthening U.S. ties with the government of Israel, including continued U.S. military aid.Republican Jewish Coalition$5,000The Republican Jewish Coalition's PAC; it financially supports Republican candidates who reflect its priorities, including strong U.S. backing of the government of Israel.Direct contributions and independent expenditures supporting this candidate from the five lobbying groups we track, every cycle each has filed, through 2026. Excludes earmarked and conduit contributions.
Endorsed by AIPAC
AIPACThe American Israel Public Affairs Committee; its PAC backs candidates it sees as strengthening U.S. ties with the government of Israel, including continued U.S. military aid.These endorsements come from groups that back sending U.S. weapons and funding to the government of Israel.

In their words

“The United States should fully support Israel with intelligence and arms to help eliminate Hamas and other regional terrorist threats. This military support is crucial for Israel's defense and stability, ensuring that it can effectively counteract those who seek to undermine its security. By providing advanced intelligence and weaponry, the U.S. can aid Israel in neutralizing immediate threats and maintaining a strategic advantage in the region.”
Source ↗, 2024-07-25
“Additionally, the U.S. should reinstitute sanctions targeting state sponsors of terrorism, preventing them from fueling efforts to destabilize or overthrow Israel.”
Source ↗, 2024-07-25
Endorsements

AIPAC (2026 endorsement)

Research log

The notes behind this card: what we looked at, what we found, and where each item came from.

Every page named below was opened and read on 2026-09-20 unless the entry says otherwise. His House press-release archive was read in full: 14 listing pages, 132 items, September 2026 back to January 2025. Bands: Position (2024-01-26 onward), Reaction window (2023-10-07 to 2024-01-25), Earlier record (before 2023-10-07), Undated. His recorded House votes are shown as badges on the card and are not restated here; he took his seat in January 2025, so the 118th Congress roll calls are marked not in office, which is correct. The committees this site tracks record no funding on this record.

U.S. military aid and weapons to the government of Israel

  • [Position, 2024-07-25] The Alaska Beacon's voter guide for this seat in 2024, which put fifteen questions to every candidate and printed the answers under each candidate's own name. Asked "What should the United States do to resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict?", Begich answered in full, in two paragraphs: "The United States should fully support Israel with intelligence and arms to help eliminate Hamas and other regional terrorist threats. This military support is crucial for Israel's defense and stability, ensuring that it can effectively counteract those who seek to undermine its security. By providing advanced intelligence and weaponry, the U.S. can aid Israel in neutralizing immediate threats and maintaining a strategic advantage in the region." / "Additionally, the U.S. should reinstitute sanctions targeting state sponsors of terrorism, preventing them from fueling efforts to destabilize or overthrow Israel. These sanctions would cut off financial and material support to terrorist organizations, significantly hindering their operations and reducing their capacity to launch attacks. By combining military support with economic pressure, the U.S. can help ensure Israel's security and contribute to a more stable and peaceful region, reinforcing the commitment to Israel's right to defend itself and its sovereignty." The guide's live address refuses to open here. The Internet Archive's copy of July 25, 2024 and its copy of July 5, 2026 both open and carry the answer word for word, and Ballotpedia reproduces the same answer under his name, citing the Beacon guide as its source. On the date: the guide carries no published date on its face, Ballotpedia's footnote cites it as July 29, 2024, and the earliest archived copy that already carries this answer was taken on July 25, 2024, so that is the date used here.
  • [Position, read 2026-09-20] Nothing after that answer. Every press release on his House media page from January 2025 to September 2026 was read, 132 items across 14 listing pages, and the words Israel, Gaza, Palestinian, UNRWA and antisemitism appear in none of them. The one occurrence of Hamas in the whole archive is in the Iran statement recorded below.
  • [Earlier record] None located. He first ran for this seat in 2022; nothing he said in that campaign about American weapons or money for the government of Israel was found.
  • [Reaction window, 2023-11-02] Must Read Alaska, "Peltola votes against aid package for Israel", by Suzanne Downing, carrying a visible date of November 2, 2023 and a published time of November 3, 2023 in the page's own data. It quotes a written statement given by Begich, then a candidate, about Rep. Mary Peltola's vote against a standalone House bill providing military aid: "Despite enduring a brutal terrorist attack and the potential for an erupting regional or even global war beginning in the Middle East, Mary Peltola has now officially voted against supporting our longtime partner and ally, Israel," and "Allied relationships are more than friendships, they are enduring bonds between nations. Our allied relationships represent commitments that we have made and must honor if we expect those commitments to be honored in return. Israel and the United States work together on multiple fronts, from intelligence to counter-terrorism to numerous private sector technology partnerships, and more." The date puts this in the weeks after the October 7 attack, so it is kept to this page and appears in no form on the card. Must Read Alaska is an Alaska news and opinion site founded by Suzanne Downing, a former speechwriter to Governor Sean Parnell.

U.S. aid to Palestinians

  • Nothing located, at any date. No statement by him about humanitarian funding for Gaza, about the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, or about the aid pipeline appears in the Beacon guide answer, in any of the 132 press releases, on his House subject pages, on his campaign site, or in any report about him read for this card.

Characterization of the conflict

  • [Position, 2024-07-25] In the Beacon answer quoted above he describes Hamas and "other regional terrorist threats", and "state sponsors of terrorism" that fuel "efforts to destabilize or overthrow Israel". That is the whole of his characterization in his own words.
  • [Position, 2026-02-28] His statement on American military action against Iran, published February 28, 2026. It says the regime supplies "funding, weapons, training, and intelligence, to terrorist proxies such as Hezbollah, the Houthis, Hamas, and various Shia militias across Iraq and Syria" and pursues "aggressive regional destabilization". It is about Iran: it does not mention Israel, Gaza or Palestinians anywhere, and it says nothing about what the United States sends to either.

Related rhetoric and lobbying

Safety and antisemitism (context, not a position on what America sends)

  • [Position, 2024-06-24] Must Read Alaska's write-up of his appearance on the STAND podcast, published June 24, 2024 and written by Kelly Tshibaka, who hosts that show and was the 2022 Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Alaska. In the writer's own summary of the episode, the interview "also covered Peltola's endorsement of Joe Biden for president, refusal to denounce anti-Semitism, and her massive amount of non-Alaskan campaign funding." No words of Begich's on that subject are quoted anywhere in the piece, and the sentence is the writer's characterization of his opponent.
  • Nothing else located. No statement by him about antisemitism, about the safety of Jewish communities, or about campus protests was found on his House site or his campaign site.

What the campaign site and his own pages say

  • [Position, read 2026-09-20] His campaign site and its Solutions page. The Solutions page carries eleven headings: lowering costs for Alaska's families; unlocking Alaska's resources; building the infrastructure Alaska needs; creating jobs and opportunity; securing the border and protecting kids; standing up for Alaska Native communities; fighting for veterans and keeping promises; lowering health care costs and expanding access; working for coastal communities; defending Alaska's strategic role; and delivering directly for Alaskans. A search of both pages for israel, gaza, palestin, hamas, antisemit, jewish, unrwa, foreign aid and middle east returns nothing. The only foreign subjects anywhere on the site are illegal foreign fishing and Alaska's place in Arctic defense. The address https://www.alaskansfornickbegich.com/issues , which Ballotpedia lists, returns a 404.
  • [Position, read 2026-09-20] The subject pages on his House site: Congress, economy, education, energy, health and veterans. There is no foreign policy or national security page, and none of the six mentions Israel, Gaza or Palestinians.
  • [Read 2026-09-20] Ballotpedia lists official and campaign accounts for him on Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube. None of them was read for this card, and nothing is claimed from any of them.

The race

  • [Read 2026-09-20] Ballotpedia's page for Alaska's at-large district: "Incumbent Nicholas Begich (R), Eric Hafner (D), Jim McDermott (L), and Bill Hill (Nonpartisan) are running in the general election for U.S. House Alaska At-large District on November 3, 2026." Its page for the primary gives the filing deadline as June 1, 2026 and the top-four primary as August 18, 2026, and records the results as certified: Begich 44.6 percent and 72,696 votes, Bill Hill 32.5 percent and 53,008, Eric Hafner 3.8 percent and 6,175, Jim McDermott 1.2 percent and 1,951, out of 162,932 votes cast among fifteen candidates.
  • [Read 2026-09-20] The Alaska Beacon's account of how the field was settled, by James Brooks, published September 2, 2026 and read on https://www.ktoo.org/2026/09/02/in-alaskas-u-s-house-race-a-libertarian-and-a-federal-inmate-advance-after-late-withdrawals/, which carries it. Under Alaska's system every candidate runs in one primary, the top four advance, and in November voters rank them; if a candidate takes more than half of the first choices they win outright, and otherwise the last-placed candidate is eliminated and those votes are redistributed. If a top-four finisher withdraws, the next finisher takes the place. Matt Schultz, third with 8.1 percent, withdrew before the deadline, which moved Hafner up; John Williams, fifth, Clay Strickland, sixth, and Yaquelin Reynoso, seventh, also withdrew, which is how the eighth-place finisher, McDermott, reached the ballot. The article says the official results were published that Monday, which was August 31, 2026.

Places that could not be read, so nothing is claimed from them

  • https://alaskabeacon.com/race-details/u-s-house-of-representatives-candidates-election-2024/ , the live address of the 2024 voter guide. It returns 403 to a desktop browser identity, refuses a rendering retrieval, and shows a security-check page in a browser. The Internet Archive's copies of July 25, 2024 and July 5, 2026 open and are what this card links.
  • https://alaskabeacon.com/2026/03/06/alaskas-congressional-delegation-votes-to-support-american-israeli-war-with-iran/ , live address, refused the same way; read through the Internet Archive copy of March 11, 2026.
  • https://www.elections.alaska.gov/enr26/results/ElectionSummaryReportRPT.pdf and the Alaska Division of Elections results pages. That host returns 405 from here, so the certified figures on this page come from Ballotpedia and the Alaska Beacon rather than from the state directly.
  • https://www.alaskansfornickbegich.com/issues , which Ballotpedia lists, returns 404.
  • His Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube accounts, official and campaign, were not read.

Not on the card, and why

  • His November 2023 statement about Rep. Peltola's vote, quoted in full above. It falls in the weeks after the October 7 attack, which this site keeps to research pages, and it is on no part of the card in any form.
  • His February 2026 statement on military action against Iran, his April 2025 appearance on Iranian sanctions, and the Alaska Beacon's report of his vote on the war powers resolution. Iran is a different question from what the United States sends to the government of Israel or to Palestinians, and Iran does not appear on a card front.
  • The part of his 2024 answer about sanctions on state sponsors of terrorism, as card-front material. It is in the deep dive and quoted in full above; the front carries the part that names what America would send and to whom.
  • The Republican Jewish Coalition's endorsement of him. An organization speaking about a candidate is recorded here rather than on the card, and the announcement quotes nothing he said.
  • Must Read Alaska's summary of the STAND podcast. It is the writer's account of what the interview covered, it is about his opponent, and it quotes nothing he said on the subject.
  • iVoterGuide's unanswered form. A page of "Did not answer" is a fact about the guide's coverage.
  • The answers other candidates gave on the same Alaska Beacon page. Fifteen candidates answer the same question there; only the answer under his own heading is his.
  • The records of Eric Hafner, Jim McDermott and Bill Hill. No one else's record is narrated on this card.

Sources retrieved for this card (address; opened or could not open; date)

  • https://ballotpedia.org/Nicholas_Begich (opened; 2026-09-20)
  • https://web.archive.org/web/20240725171647/https://alaskabeacon.com/race-details/u-s-house-of-representatives-candidates-election-2024/ (opened; 2026-09-20; copy taken 2024-07-25)
  • https://web.archive.org/web/20260705012501/https://alaskabeacon.com/race-details/u-s-house-of-representatives-candidates-election-2024/ (opened; 2026-09-20; copy taken 2026-07-05)
  • https://alaskabeacon.com/race-details/u-s-house-of-representatives-candidates-election-2024/ (could not open; 2026-09-20; read through the Internet Archive)
  • https://ballotpedia.org/Alaska%27s_At-Large_Congressional_District (opened; 2026-09-20)
  • https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_House_election_in_Alaska,_2026_%28August_18_top-four_primary%29 (opened; 2026-09-20)
  • https://www.ktoo.org/2026/09/02/in-alaskas-u-s-house-race-a-libertarian-and-a-federal-inmate-advance-after-late-withdrawals/ (opened; 2026-09-20; published 2026-09-02)
  • https://begich.house.gov/media/press-releases and its 14 listing pages, 132 items (opened; 2026-09-20; January 2025 to September 2026, all read)
  • https://begich.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-begich-issues-statement-us-military-action-against-irans-nuclear (opened; 2026-09-20; published 2026-02-28)
  • https://begich.house.gov/media/press-releases/icymi-congressman-nick-begich-joins-house-republicans-reinforce-maximum (opened; 2026-09-20; published 2025-04-02)
  • https://begich.house.gov/issues and its six subject pages (opened; 2026-09-20)
  • https://www.alaskansfornickbegich.com/ (opened; 2026-09-20; undated)
  • https://www.alaskansfornickbegich.com/solutions (opened; 2026-09-20; undated)
  • https://mustreadalaska.com/peltola-votes-against-aid-package-for-israel/ (opened; 2026-09-20; published 2023-11-02, page data 2023-11-03)
  • https://mustreadalaska.com/unseating-peltola-nick-begich-talks-about-his-congressional-run-on-the-stand-podcast/ (opened; 2026-09-20; published 2024-06-24)
  • https://www.rjchq.org/rjc_endorses_nine_candidates_in_key_house_battlegrounds (opened; 2026-09-20; published 2024-09-18)
  • https://ivoterguide.com/candidate/61398/race/1217/election/989?culture=en-us (opened; 2026-09-20; profile for the Alaska general election of 2022-11-08)
  • https://web.archive.org/web/20260311211939/https://alaskabeacon.com/2026/03/06/alaskas-congressional-delegation-votes-to-support-american-israeli-war-with-iran/ (opened; 2026-09-20; published 2026-03-06, copy taken 2026-03-11)
  • https://ballotpedia.org/Mark_Begich (opened; 2026-09-20; read for the identity check only)
  • https://www.elections.alaska.gov/enr26/results/ElectionSummaryReportRPT.pdf (could not open; 2026-09-20)
  • https://www.alaskansfornickbegich.com/issues (could not open, 404; 2026-09-20)
  • This is a record of what was checked on 2026-09-20, not a claim that no other statement exists.

Also in this race

  1. ? Bill Hill (Independent)
  2. ✓ Eric Hafner (Democrat)
  3. ✗ Jim McDermott (Libertarian)

All Alaska candidates.

But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. Every claim on this page goes through at least two verification steps. Open Find Your Candidates for votes, funding and contact details.