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

Sarah Huckabee Sanders

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Sanders has put Arkansas money into the government of Israel's debt: her administration invested up to $50 million of state retirement funds in Israeli bonds, on top of about $55 million already held, and she signed an economic cooperation agreement in Jerusalem (research).

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Your record on weapons and funding for the government of Israel [ref: ar-gov-sanders]

Dear Sarah Huckabee Sanders,

Before I vote in November, I want to ask you directly: have you reconsidered your support for sending weapons and funding to the government of Israel?

A United Nations commission has found that crimes against humanity have been committed in Gaza, including the use of starvation as a method of war. Gaza's Health Ministry counts more than 70,000 Palestinians killed, and a study in The Lancet Global Health found about 25,000 more violent deaths than the official count in the first 15 months alone.

We said "never again." Your record reads as cheering for "again." Is that how you want to be remembered?

I'd like to know where you stand now, and whether you will commit to using the powers of the office, including state contracts and public investments, consistently with that position. I may share your answer publicly so other voters can see it.

Respectfully,
[Your name]

Website ↗X ↗Facebook ↗

Deep Dive

Sanders is Arkansas's governor, seeking a second term. Almost everything a governor can do on this question, she has done, and all of it points one way.

In August 2025 she made her first official trip to Israel, met the prime minister and two cabinet ministers, and signed an economic cooperation agreement between the Arkansas Economic Development Commission and Israel's National Technological Innovation Authority covering aerospace and defence, agricultural technology, energy and manufacturing. Her office's readout of the meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu sets out the rest: the decision to invest up to $50 million of state retirement funds in Israeli bonds on top of the roughly $55 million the state treasury already held; a state requirement that Arkansas government call the West Bank Judea and Samaria; and her interest in expanding the Arkansas plant that makes components for Israel's Iron Dome. Buying those bonds is state money lent to the government of Israel. The label the state now uses for occupied territory is a political position taken in her name, and Arkansas was the first state to impose it.

She has been equally plain in her own words. The executive order she signed lowering flags to mark the anniversary of the attack calls the war one "between good and evil" and states flatly: "Israel is right, and the terrorists are wrong."

Inside Arkansas she has signed the international working definition of antisemitism into state law twice, once as the state's official definition and once for schools and colleges, and her administration has funded security at synagogues. On the federal questions this site asks, what the United States sends in weapons and money, she has taken no position we could find, which is unsurprising in an office that has no vote on either.

The record

Notable actions

• Signed an Arkansas-Israel Memorandum of Understanding (economic-cooperation agreement) in Jerusalem on Aug. 6, 2025 between the Arkansas Economic Development Commission and Israel's National Technological Innovation Authority, covering aerospace/defense, agriculture technology, energy and manufacturing.

• Her administration decided to invest up to $50 million of state retirement funds in Israeli bonds, in addition to about $55 million already held by the Arkansas Treasury.

• Traveled to Israel in August 2025 (her first official trip as governor), meeting PM Netanyahu, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Economy Minister Nir Barkat, touring the Knesset, and joining Speaker Mike Johnson on a tour of the Ariel settlement in the West Bank; also cited signing the state 'Judea and Samaria Act.'

• Arkansas Act 710 of 2017, a pioneering anti-boycott (boycott, divestment and sanctions) law barring public entities from contracting with companies that boycott Israel, remains in force; it was enacted in 2017 under Gov. Asa Hutchinson, before Sanders became governor, and Sanders has continued the state's strongly pro-Israel posture.

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.

Two reviewers, reading the public record as a whole, agree: Her office's readout says she wants to expand Arkansas production of Iron Dome components for Israel's security, alongside state money in Israeli bonds, so her words favour more U.S.-made weapons for Israel. Reviewed by hand on 2026-09-28. This candidate has no recorded tracked floor votes.

In their words

“Governor Sanders met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today to discuss Arkansas' unbreakable bond with Israel and commitment to standing with the Israeli people to defeat common enemies and defend shared values. The Governor emphasized the steps her administration has taken to support Israel, including Arkansas' recent decision to invest up to $50 million in state retirement funds in Israeli bonds, in addition to the $55 million already held by the Arkansas Treasury, and requiring state government to accurately refer to Judea and Samaria when discussing the region west of the Jordan River.”

Source ↗, 2025-08-06

“Components of Israel's Iron Dome are produced in Arkansas, and the Governor expressed interest in expanding that partnership to support both Arkansas' economy and Israel's national security.”

Source ↗, 2025-08-06

“We've also invested significantly in pension funds and Israeli bonds in our state and a number of other things.”

Source ↗, 2025-08-13

“Israel is right, and the terrorists are wrong”

Source ↗, 2024-10-04

Research log

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

State money and state action toward the government of Israel

[Position, 2025-08-06] Official readout of her Jerusalem meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu, verified verbatim: "Governor Sanders met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today to discuss Arkansas' unbreakable bond with Israel and commitment to standing with the Israeli people to defeat common enemies and defend shared values. The Governor emphasized the steps her administration has taken to support Israel, including Arkansas' recent decision to invest up to $50 million in state retirement funds in Israeli bonds, in addition to the $55 million already held by the Arkansas Treasury, and requiring state government to accurately refer to Judea and Samaria when discussing the region west of the Jordan River."
[Position, 2025-08-06] From the same readout: "Components of Israel's Iron Dome are produced in Arkansas, and the Governor expressed interest in expanding that partnership to support both Arkansas' economy and Israel's national security." It also records a meeting with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.
[Position, 2025-08-06] Signed a memorandum of understanding between the Arkansas Economic Development Commission and Israel's National Technological Innovation Authority: aerospace and defence, agricultural technology, energy, manufacturing.
[Position, 2025-08-06] Jewish News Syndicate's account of the Netanyahu meeting, which reports the same bond purchase and the terminology law.
[Position, 2025-08-21] Her office's column on the trade mission, which sets out the $63 million partnership between RTX and Rafael to build Iron Dome components in Camden, Arkansas, and the state's $188,000 of Right to Worship grants to Jewish places of worship.
[Position, 2025-08-13] Jewish Insider interview after the trip, verified verbatim: "We've also invested significantly in pension funds and Israeli bonds in our state and a number of other things." The same coverage records a tour of the Ariel settlement in the occupied West Bank with the Speaker of the U.S. House, and meetings with Finance Minister Smotrich and Economy Minister Barkat.

U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel

Nothing located in which she takes a position on federal weapons or federal funding. A governor does not vote on either, and her record here is state action.
[Position, 2025-06-17, carrier unreadable] She is reported to have criticised the exclusion of Israeli defence firms from the Paris Air Show as "unacceptable", in a post on X reported at https://www.facebook.com/nwademgaz/posts/gov-sarah-huckabee-sanders-took-to-x-on-monday-to-blast-the-treatment-of-israeli/1343237127808992/. Facebook does not answer our requests, so nothing from it is used.

U.S. aid to Palestinians

Nothing located.

Characterization of the conflict

[Position, 2024-10-04] Executive order lowering flags to half-staff on the anniversary of the attack, confirmed word for word. Its recitals say that protesters "deny Israel's fundamental right to defend itself in this war between good and evil", that "Israel is right, and the terrorists are wrong", and that "Arkansas stands with Israel, prays for Israel, and supports Israel as they fight to defeat the terrorists and bring the hostages home."
[Position, 2025-04-28] Signed the state law requiring agencies to say Judea and Samaria rather than West Bank, the first such law in any state.
[Reaction window, 2023-10] A statement calling the attack an act of war and urging the United States to stand with Israel. Not on the card summary. The news page this record cites returned 403 on 2026-08-17, and the video carrier offered by a later search, https://www.facebook.com/SarahHuckabeeSanders/videos/i-stand-with-israel/1060473175370705/, does not answer us either, so neither is linked.

Related rhetoric and lobbying

[Position, 2025-11-01] Spoke at the Republican Jewish Coalition leadership summit. The only carriers offered are YouTube pages that return no transcript, so nothing is quoted.
[Earlier record, 2017] Arkansas Act 710 bars public entities from contracting with companies that boycott the government of Israel (Encyclopedia of Arkansas). It was enacted under her predecessor, before she took office, and is not attributed to her.

Safety and antisemitism (context)

[Position, 2023-02-23] Signed Senate Bill 118, adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism as the state's official definition, making Arkansas the thirty-first state to do so. The Jerusalem Post covered it.
[Position, 2025-04-17] Signed Senate Bill 352, applying that definition to public schools, colleges and campus conduct codes; Jewish News Syndicate covered its passage.
[Position, 2025-06-13] Co-signed a column with other Republican governors on confronting antisemitism.
[Position, 2025-08-21] $188,000 in Right to Worship grants to Jewish places of worship, per her office's column above.

Race and status context

Incumbent governor seeking re-election per Ballotpedia.
The Democratic nominee in the same race has his own card on this site.
Her father serves as United States Ambassador to Israel. That is his role, not hers, and nothing is inferred from it.

Also in this race

– Fredrick Love (Democrat)
– Colt Shelby (Libertarian)

All Arkansas candidates.