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

Bruce Westerman

Republican · U.S. House, Arkansas District 4
✗Supported sending weapons or funding in 6 of 6 tracked votes

Westerman voted for every Israel aid bill and against cutting that aid. Writing a year after the October 2023 attack, he called it "the unprovoked attack against Israel" and wrote of "the evil that continues to plague the Holy Land". Nothing located has him addressing U.S. aid to Palestinians.

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Deep Dive

Westerman represents Arkansas’s 4th District, is the sitting member, and chairs the House Natural Resources Committee.

His recorded votes on the tracked bills appear as badges on this card, all on the support side, including votes against both amendments to cut aid to Israel. His April 2024 statement on the emergency packages frames them as replenishing "U.S. military stockpiles with weapons made by Arkansans in East Camden"; his district manufactures interceptor missiles for Israeli defense systems, a thread that runs through his record and is detailed on the research page.

In a weekly column one year after the attack he wrote: "It remains difficult to put into words the evil that continues to plague the Holy Land." He has traveled to Israel on a fact-finding mission, keeps a "Stand With Israel" column on his official site, and wrote in 2024 that "Antisemitism has no place in America, especially at our colleges and universities."

Nothing located has him addressing U.S. humanitarian aid for Palestinians at any date.

The record

Supported sending weapons or funding in 6 of 6 tracked votes

Floor votes
H.R. 6126 - Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act2023-11-02 · Passed 226-196
✗ Voted Yes
supported sending it
H.R. 8034 - Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 20242024-04-20 · Passed 366-58
✗ Voted Yes
supported sending it
H.R. 8369 - Israel Security Assistance Support Act2024-05-16 · Passed 224-187
✗ Voted Yes
supported sending it
H.R. 7217 - Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 20242024-02-06 · Failed 250-180 (needed 2/3 under suspension)
✗ Voted Yes
supported sending 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
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
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 6 of 6 tracked votes.)

The money

$28K in lifetime support from the five lobbying groups we track

Lifetime support from the five lobbying groups we track
AIPAC PAC: $27,900
Support-only OpenFEC data (as of 2026-10-03). Opposition independent expenditures are excluded.
Who these lobbying groups are
AIPAC$27,900The 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.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

“It remains difficult to put into words the evil that continues to plague the Holy Land.”
Source ↗, 2024-10-10
“Antisemitism has no place in America, especially at our colleges and universities.”
Source ↗, 2024-05-01
Endorsements

AIPAC (2026 endorsement)

Research log

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

  • His recorded votes on the tracked bills appear as badges on this card, all support-side; the grounding for each sits in the record section.
  • [Position, 2024-04-20] His statement on the April 2024 packages, verified: the East Camden stockpile-replenishment sentence quoted in the deep dive describes the package as a whole (it also covers Ukraine and TikTok provisions), and the card does not sharpen it into an Israel-only claim.
  • [Reaction window, 2023-10-26] The RTX/Rafael announcement of a $33 million East Camden factory producing Tamir interceptors for Iron Dome, with his welcome, per Talk Business & Politics; the "thrilled" wording is our research from that page, not re-retrieved. Defensive-systems detail stays off the front of the card. (The announcement falls inside the reaction window; it is an industrial fact more than a statement, and it is kept here either way.)
  • [Position, 2024-02-21, reported] Groundbreaking-ceremony remarks ("spending for defense is investing in the things that are priceless... peace and freedom"), per our research. Not quoted on the card.
  • [Reaction window, 2023-11-02] Co-sponsorship of H.R. 6126 with his statement. Not on the card summary.

U.S. aid to Palestinians

  • Nothing located at any date.

Characterization of the conflict

  • [Position, 2024-10-10] His one-year weekly column, quoted on the card; verified.
  • [Position, undated] His standing "Stand With Israel" column on his official site; live page, recorded on the date we read it.
  • [Position, 2024] His fact-finding visit to Israel, per his own release.
  • [Position, 2024-04-18] Co-sponsorship of Iran-related countermeasure bills; Iran material stays off the front of the card.

Related rhetoric and lobbying

  • [Prior, 2015-03] Support for Prime Minister Netanyahu’s 2015 address, per Talk Business & Politics. Prior band.
  • Tracked funding totals appear as a badge on this card.
  • [Context, 2024-10-10] The race and his opponent, per UA Little Rock Public Radio.

Safety and antisemitism (context)

Race and status context

  • Sitting member and committee chairman, nominated. His Democratic challenger’s card carries its own record.

Also in this race

  1. ? James Russell III (Democrat)

All Arkansas 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.