But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Robb Ryerse
Democrat · U.S. House, Arkansas District 3
✓Opposes
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.
Two reviewers, reading the public record as a whole, agree: His campaign site calls what is happening in Gaza a genocide, and nothing in his own words says the weapons should keep flowing. Reviewed by hand on 2026-10-01. This candidate has no recorded tracked floor votes.
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Ryerse is the Democratic nominee in Arkansas’s 3rd District, a pastor and nonprofit leader challenging the sitting member.
His characterization is his own, published at length in August 2025 by a supporting outlet: "At a recent event, a woman asked me about Gaza. I told her plainly that what is happening to the Palestinian people is genocide. She looked at me and said, ‘You’ll say that to me, but will you say it out there?’ So, this is me saying it out here, out loud, for everyone to hear: Yes, it is genocide." The same statement says "At least 83 percent of those killed in Gaza are civilians" and that "Entire generations... are being wiped out and an entire population is being targeted simply for existing in their own land."
His campaign site carries the same characterization. A March 2026 post there, paid for by his campaign, says: "In Gaza, we are watching a genocide that is devastating violence against civilians. Entire communities destroyed. Families displaced, injured, and killed." It adds: "A good neighbor does not stay silent while innocent people suffer." The post's list of what should change includes "We must support people defending themselves while rejecting actions that harm innocent lives", and it does not mention weapons or aid.
On transfers, an August 2026 campaign video is reported to say "No more unconditional aid to Israel. Healthcare over war"; the video sits on a source this project cannot watch and its wording is held on the research page.
His campaign site’s homepage carries none of this; the March 2026 statement is a post on the same site. Nothing located has him addressing U.S. humanitarian aid to Palestinians as a funding question.
The money
Checked the five lobbying groups we track; no direct 2026 support found
2026 support from the five lobbying groups we track
Nothing recorded (as of 2026-07-23) from the five lobbying groups we track; earlier cycles and earmarked donations not yet tracked.
Support-only OpenFEC data. Opposition independent expenditures are excluded.
✓ Endorsed by Track AIPAC
Track AIPACA watchdog on AIPAC-linked money. It backs candidates who reject AIPAC support and call for an arms embargo and conditions on aid to the government of Israel.These endorsements come from groups that push to restrict or end U.S. weapons transfers to the government of Israel. Endorsements from these groups are shown for information; they do not decide the mark.
In their words
“So, this is me saying it out here, out loud, for everyone to hear: Yes, it is genocide.”
“In Gaza, we are watching a genocide that is devastating violence against civilians. Entire communities destroyed. Families displaced, injured, and killed.”
The notes behind this card: what we looked at, what we found, and where each item came from.
U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel
[Position, 2026-08-18, unwatchable video source] A campaign video reported as saying "No more unconditional aid to Israel. Healthcare over war", posted on his campaign Facebook. Video platforms and that address could not be read by us; the wording is as our research recorded it. It is not yet confirmed: watch it and this entry can move onto the card as his verbatim words.
[Position, 2026-03-22] His campaign site's post "Stand for Freedom Everywhere" names no weapons and no aid. Its closing list of what should change includes "We must support people defending themselves while rejecting actions that harm innocent lives", a line the post applies to every conflict it discusses, Ukraine as well as Gaza.
[Read 2026-10-01] An earlier version of this page described the ActBlue page as his campaign's and as opposing U.S.-funded military action in Gaza. Neither holds: the page is run by Citizens Against AIPAC Corruption, which splits gifts between his campaign and itself, and its text says nothing about military action. Its wording is under "Related rhetoric and lobbying" below.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
Nothing located as a funding question.
Characterization of the conflict
[Position, 2025-08-31] His statement carried by Blue America (a supporting outlet publishing his words, stated as such): the genocide passage quoted in the deep dive, the civilian-casualty figure, and the entire-generations passage. The genocide passage continues: "It is being perpetuated by Israel’s extremist government through their relentless bombardment, siege, and displacement of the Palestinian people, funded with American dollars and armed with American bombs."
[Position, 2026-03-22] A post on his campaign site, "Stand for Freedom Everywhere", paid for by his campaign: "In Gaza, we are watching a genocide that is devastating violence against civilians. Entire communities destroyed. Families displaced, injured, and killed." And: "A good neighbor does not stay silent while innocent people suffer."
Related rhetoric and lobbying
[Position, read 2026-10-01] A fundraising page run by Citizens Against AIPAC Corruption, a political committee that splits gifts between his campaign and itself, describes him in the third person: "he's standing against the genocide in Gaza and REJECTING support from AIPAC and their allies!" This is that group's text, not his campaign's.
One research-offered source (an advocacy group’s Facebook photo post) endorses a DIFFERENT candidate by name; it fed only a general endorsement claim and nothing from it is used.
No tracked funding badge appears because no committee support is recorded for him.
Safety and antisemitism (context)
Nothing located.
Where else the record was checked
[Consulted, read 2026-08-21] His campaign homepage: no Israel, Gaza or AIPAC content; his positions live in the statement and fundraising pages above, and the deep dive says so.
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.
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