But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Amish Shah
Democrat · U.S. House, Arizona District 1
✗SupportsFrom their own words
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.
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Shah is the Democratic nominee in Arizona's 1st District, an emergency room physician and former state legislator who was also the 2024 nominee for this seat.
His fullest statement is a written Middle East position paper from his 2024 campaign, published by Jewish Insider. On what the United States sends, it says: "I support the provision of US aid to Israel for its defense under Barack Obama's 2016 Memorandum of Understanding, as well as the recently passed $14.3 billion emergency supplemental funding to defeat Hamas and other malevolent actors. I do not support additional restrictions on aid to Israel over and above restrictions placed on" other recipients. On the other half: "I support aid to the Palestinians if it complies with the Taylor-Force Act to prohibit any incentives to violence."
The paper draws its lines carefully in both directions. On a ceasefire: "So long as this is true, I will not support a unilateral cease-fire. Hamas has the option to fully surrender, give up its weapons and hostages, renounce violence, and commit to living side-by-side in peace with Israel. If Hamas exercises this option, I would call for a cease-fire immediately." On the war's toll: tens of thousands of Palestinian civilian deaths are "a tragedy", and "Israel and the world have a responsibility to safeguard non-combatants and provide humanitarian aid." He supports a two-state solution, rejects reading Hamas's actions as "a legitimate protest action against the occupation" ("I emphatically do not"), and writes: "I agree with President Biden that the use of the word 'genocide' is inappropriate."
He accepted endorsements from J Street's political arm and the Jewish Democratic Council of America in both campaigns. J Street is a liberal group that describes itself as pro-Israel and pro-peace and supports a negotiated two-state solution; JStreetPAC, its political arm, endorses candidates and channels its members' donations to them, and it often backs different candidates than the American Israel Public Affairs Committee does. The Jewish Democratic Council of America is an advocacy group for Jewish Democrats that endorses candidates each cycle. Endorsements are the endorsers' acts, and his paper is where his own words live.
The money
Targeted with $287K by PACs we track that support U.S. weapons funding for the government of Israel (2024); $3K in lifetime support from the five lobbying groups we track
Lifetime support from the five lobbying groups we track
DMFI: $2,608
Support-only OpenFEC data (as of 2026-10-03). Opposition independent expenditures are excluded.
Who these lobbying groups are
DMFI PAC$2,608Democratic Majority for Israel's PAC; calls itself the home for pro-Israel Democrats and backs Democratic candidates who support a strong U.S. alliance with 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.
Money spent against them
Independent expenditures opposing this candidate: advertising and other spending made to defeat them, without the candidate's involvement or consent. Republican Jewish Coalition reported 2 independent expenditures opposing this candidate on 2024-10-21, totalling $287K. This counts only the five lobbying groups we track, so it is a floor on what was spent against this candidate, not a total. Each expenditure is counted because the committee itself named this candidate as the target on its FEC filing. These lobbying groups often spend along party lines, or to protect an incumbent they back, so this is not by itself a reading of the candidate's position.
In their words
“Some see Hamas' actions as a legitimate protest action against the occupation. I emphatically do not.”
“So long as this is true, I will not support a unilateral cease-fire. Hamas has the option to fully surrender, give up its weapons and hostages, renounce violence, and commit to living side-by-side in peace with Israel. If Hamas exercises this option, I would call for a cease-fire immediately.”
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, 2024-06-21, published 2024-10] His written Middle East position paper, hosted by Jewish Insider. A PDF carrier: downloaded and text-extracted on 2026-08-21 (13,549 characters; the extraction renders some ligatures as stray letters, and quoted spans are given in the document's actual spelling). Confirmed: support for U.S. aid under the 2016 Memorandum of Understanding and the $14.3 billion supplemental, and no additional restrictions on aid beyond those on other recipients. His paper also notes "adamant" Iron Dome support per the endorsement summaries; defensive-systems detail stays off the front of the card under the standing rule.
[Position, 2024-06-21] From the paper, confirmed: "I support aid to the Palestinians if it complies with the Taylor-Force Act to prohibit any incentives to violence." And: "Israel and the world have a responsibility to safeguard non-combatants and provide humanitarian aid." Also his dismay that "the international community has not offered an option for refuge for the Palestinians who do not support Hamas."
[Position, 2024-10-08, single outlet] After a debate he told the Daily Independent that non-combatant Palestinians should be helped to find refuge in the West Bank or another Arab country; our search found it in a single outlet only. Recorded here with that limit.
Characterization of the conflict
[Position, 2024-06-21] From the paper, confirmed: the occupation-and-self-determination framing ("Palestinians have decried this occupation and want to secure their right to live freely with self-determination in their own sovereign territory. I support this goal as part of a two-state solution"); "Some see Hamas' actions as a legitimate protest action against the occupation. I emphatically do not"; "I agree with President Biden that the use of the word 'genocide' is inappropriate"; the conditional-ceasefire passage quoted in the deep dive; Iran identified as "a malevolent actor in this conflict" (Iran material stays off the front of the card).
[Position, 2024-10-08] A post-debate remark reported as "Hamas needs to go" by the Daily Independent (yourvalley.net); ⚠ the article body is subscriber-only by every route, so the wording is as our search captured it, not quoted on the card.
[Prior, 2019] The paper describes his joint Arizona-Israel government trip while a state legislator, with the Iron Dome active during his visit, as shaping his view.
Related rhetoric and lobbying
[Position, 2024-06-21] The paper endorses the Abraham Accords and, per our search, states personal opposition to the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement; the extraction's ligature noise obscured that passage, so its wording is carried as our search reported it rather than quoted.
[Position, 2025-2026] Endorsed by J Street's political arm (his own candidate page there) and by the Jewish Democratic Council of America. His own August 2026 acknowledgment sits on his Facebook page, which could not be opened; our search captured: "I remain committed to working with the Jewish community to continue championing our shared values: fighting antisemitism with urgency and safeguarding our nation's democracy". No tracked funding badge appears because no committee support is recorded for him.
Safety and antisemitism (context)
[Position, 2024-06-21] From the paper, confirmed: "I support the effort to combat anti-Semitism using the IHRA definition. I believe that actively spreading a message of empathy helps prevent the next dark chapter in human history." (Given in standard spelling; the extraction renders ligatures as stray letters.)
The endorsement summaries report him calling rising antisemitism "morally abhorrent" and backing Holocaust education; the summaries are the endorser's descriptions.
Race and status context
The Democratic nominee in one of this cycle's priority districts, in a rematch cycle; the Republican nominee's card carries its own record.
He has held no federal office, so there are no recorded votes on this card. His state legislative service is not a federal record and is not presented as one.
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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