Tommy Tuberville
Tuberville has voted against every attempt to block U.S. weapons sales to the government of Israel, called the 2024 pause on arms shipments to it "the worst kind of betrayal", and pressed for a permanent end to U.S. funding for the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees.
Tuberville is Alabama's junior senator and the Republican nominee for governor. He has been unusually explicit about both halves of the money question, which is why his votes are characterised here rather than left to speak for themselves.
On weapons: when the administration paused a shipment of bombs in May 2024, he said that "Saying you support the Jewish people then withholding critical arms and munitions only emboldens the Hamas Terrorists and prolongs the fighting" and called on the president to release the weapons. In August 2024 he wrote to the Secretary of State about equipment held back from Israeli military and police buyers, calling the hold "immoral and needlessly weakens one of our strongest allies in a time of critical need". Every Senate vote he has cast on blocking a specific arms sale to the government of Israel has been a vote against blocking it.
On aid to Palestinians: he joined senators pressing leadership, at the end of January 2024, for an "immediate and permanent prohibition" on U.S. contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, the main channel for American money to Palestinian civilians.
He has kept at it while running for governor. In July 2026 he defended the provision of the annual defence bill that would write the United States-Israel defence technology partnership into law, telling reporters it "just codifies existing partnerships that the U.S. and Israel have had in place for years". He is nonetheless running for an office with no vote on any of it, and his campaign site does not take the subject up.
Tracked votes: backed sending U.S. weapons or funding to the government of Israel in 9 of 9 recorded votes.
Research
U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel
- [Position, 2024-05-08] Statement on the confirmed pause in bomb shipments, verified verbatim: "Israel is one of our closest and most important allies. We should be consistent in supporting our friend as they fight a war for their very survival. What we are seeing from the Biden Administration is the worst kind of betrayal. Saying you support the Jewish people then withholding critical arms and munitions only emboldens the Hamas Terrorists and prolongs the fighting. President Biden needs to stop appeasing the America-hating fringe of the Democrat party for votes in November and release the weapons to Israel."
- [Position, 2024-08-16] Letter to the Secretary of State on withheld Foreign Military Sales equipment: "Withholding vital weapons and munitions from both the Israeli military and law enforcement is immoral and needlessly weakens one of our strongest allies in a time of critical need."
- [Position, 2026-07-23] On a call with reporters he defended Section 219 of the House-passed National Defense Authorization Act, the United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative, against critics who say it ties the two militaries together in a new way: "what I can tell you is that it just codifies existing partnerships that the U.S. and Israel have had in place for years. 219, what it does is it sets up a mechanism to share research and development and best practices for innovative defense technology." And: "We want to continue to have the best innovative and fighting force in the world, and what better way to do that than to work with Israel and other countries." Opened and confirmed word for word. This is the most recent thing he has said on the subject, and it comes while he is running for governor.
- [Position, 2024 to 2026] Nine recorded votes against motions to discharge resolutions that would have blocked particular arms sales or export licences to the government of Israel, each cross-checked against the official roll call, for example S.J.Res. 111 and S.J.Res. 32. The card renders the votes; the prose does not re-list them.
- [Position, 2024-04-23] Recorded Not Voting on the national security supplemental (H.R. 815), one of three Republicans absent, per the committed roll call and a contemporaneous CNN tally.
- [Reaction window, 2023-10-19] Cosponsorship of the Emergency Resupply for IRON DOME Act of 2023, with a statement on redirecting assistance from Gaza to the Iron Dome (his release). Off the card (C1).
- [Reaction window, 2023-10-31] Floor remarks, "Support Israel and Supply Israel". Off the card (C1).
- [Reaction window, 2023-11-06] Alabama Daily News reported his call to separate aid for the government of Israel from aid for Ukraine. Off the card (C1).
U.S. aid to Palestinians
- [Position, 2024-02-01] Release on a letter to Senate leaders, dated January 31, 2024, urging that any supplemental include an "immediate and permanent prohibition" on U.S. funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. Direction named: against that channel of U.S. money to Palestinians. Multi-signatory, so only the joint wording is used.
Characterization of the conflict
- The characterizations in this record are in the reaction-window releases above, and are off the card.
- [Position, 2026-02-05, unread] He is reported to have told reporters he saw "some good reason" for restricting journalists' access to Gaza, and that the conflict is "pretty much over with". The only carrier offered is a YouTube short at https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2vWPWWjHZU4, which returns no readable text, so nothing from it is used. This would be a substantial item if a transcript surfaced.
Related rhetoric and lobbying
- Endorsed by Donald J. Trump (record field).
- Republican Jewish Coalition lifetime support of $5,000 is a badge and is not restated.
- An advocacy site, https://www.boughtbyzionism.org/tommy_tuberville, catalogues his record and donations. It opens, but it is a campaigning page rather than a document, so nothing is taken from it.
Safety and antisemitism (context)
- [Reaction window, 2023-11-09] Remarks at a Senate committee roundtable on campus antisemitism. Off the card (C1).
- [Reaction window, 2023-12-13] Joined a resolution condemning a protest slogan as antisemitic. Off the card (C1).
- [Position, 2024-05-06] In an interview with 1819 News he warned that congressional efforts to restrict antisemitic campus speech risk a slippery slope on the First Amendment. Context on his approach to antisemitism legislation, not an answer on what the United States sends.
- [Position, 2025-06-02] Fox Business interview after an antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colorado. A video page; the text recovered is a summary rather than a transcript, so nothing is quoted from it.
Race and status context
- Republican nominee for governor per Ballotpedia; campaign site read 2026-08-02, no foreign-policy content.
- The Democratic nominee in the same race has his own card in this batch.
Also in this race: Ronald Burnette Jr. (Independent), Doug Jones (Democrat) · All Alabama candidates.
See the full record →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 the interactive card for votes, funding and contact details.