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

Xavier Becerra

Democrat · Governor, California
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Asked by CalMatters in May 2026 whether the war in Gaza is a genocide, Becerra said the Netanyahu government's conduct "cannot be classified as within international norms" and that Netanyahu should answer to the international community. He has not said what America should send the government of Israel.

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Deep Dive

Xavier Becerra is the Democratic nominee for governor of California. He served in the U.S. House from 1993 to 2017, as California's attorney general from 2017 to 2021, and as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services from March 2021 to January 2025. He finished first in the June 2, 2026 top-two primary with 28 percent of the vote and faces Steve Hilton on November 3. Governor Gavin Newsom is term-limited.

As a candidate, the clearest thing he has said about the war in Gaza came in a CalMatters video series released in May 2026, which put the same question to each leading candidate: "Do you consider Israel’s actions in the war in Gaza a genocide?" His full answer, as CalMatters transcribed it, was: "I think what the Netanyahu government has done in Israel cannot be classified as within international norms. I think the number of people who died in Gaza during the Israeli action was extreme. I think Netanyahu should answer for all he has done before the international community." He did not use the word genocide, and he did not say what the United States should do about the weapons and money it sends the government of Israel.

As health secretary he spoke about the war for the United States at the World Health Assembly in Geneva on May 28, 2024. The official transcript of his remarks reads: "That is why the tragic, avoidable loss of life and cycle of destruction and dislocation between Israel and Palestine [Israelis and Palestinians] must stop immediately. We need a ceasefire agreement that leads to the release of hostages, a surge in humanitarian assistance into Gaza, and the road to a two-state solution." The same day, a department spokesperson said he had misspoken in saying "Israel and Palestine" and that U.S. policy on recognizing a Palestinian state had not changed; the words in brackets are the correction the government added to its transcript.

He was invited to the Jewish California candidate forum in Los Angeles on February 26, 2026 and did not attend; the forum's organizers told JNS that he and the two other invited candidates who stayed away had "scheduling conflicts." Israel and Gaza did not come up in his one debate with Hilton, on CNN on September 30, 2026, according to the accounts of it published by CalMatters and CNN. None of the organizations on his campaign's endorsement list is one of the lobbying groups this site tracks on this question, and his campaign's priorities are all about California.

Earlier, as a member of Congress, he voted in September 2016 for a House resolution supporting a new long-term memorandum of understanding on U.S. military assistance to the government of Israel. The rest of his record, with every source read for this card, is on his research page.

A governor casts no vote on U.S. weapons or aid; Congress and the president decide them. Ask Becerra directly what the United States should send the government of Israel, and send us the reply: it goes on this page in his own words.

The record

Notable actions

• 2016-09-13: As U.S. Representative for California, Becerra voted Yea on H.Res.729, 'Expressing support for the expeditious consideration and finalization of a new, robust, and long-term Memorandum of Understanding on military assistance to Israel between the United States Government and the Government of Israel.' The resolution was agreed to under suspension of the rules (405–4).

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: In a May 2026 voter-guide video he said what the Netanyahu government has done in Israel "cannot be classified as within international norms", and in May 2024 remarks he called for a ceasefire and a two-state solution, with nothing pointing the other way. Reviewed by hand on 2026-10-09. This candidate has no recorded tracked floor votes.

In their words

“We need a ceasefire agreement that leads to the release of hostages, a surge in humanitarian assistance into Gaza, and the road to a two-state solution”
Source ↗, 2024-05-28
“I think what the Netanyahu government has done in Israel cannot be classified as within international norms. I think the number of people who died in Gaza during the Israeli action was extreme. I think Netanyahu should answer for all he has done before the international community.”
Source ↗, 2026-05-08

Research log

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

Every page named below was opened and read on 2026-10-02 unless the entry says otherwise. His campaign site was read in full: all 61 of its own pages listed in its index, including the eleven issue pages, the biography, the endorsement list and the news room. Bands: Position (2024-01-26 onward), Reaction window (2023-10-07 to 2024-01-25), Earlier record (before 2023-10-07), Undated. As a state candidate he has no tracked congressional votes on this card, and the committees this site tracks do not cover a state office, so there is no funding record either. Words he spoke as health secretary are his own words and are marked with the office he held.

U.S. military aid and weapons to the government of Israel

  • Nothing located since 2024-01-26. No statement of his on arms transfers, weapons shipments, the May 2024 pause on a bomb shipment, the April 2024 supplemental, conditions on aid, an arms embargo, Foreign Military Financing or the memorandum of understanding appears on his campaign site, in his CalMatters answers, in the coverage of his one general election debate, in the Jewish press coverage of the race, or in any voter guide read for this card.
  • [Earlier record, 2016-09-13] As a U.S. representative he voted Yea on House roll call 504 of 2016, on H.Res. 729, a resolution expressing support for a new long-term memorandum of understanding on military assistance between the United States government and the government of Israel. The resolution passed 405 to 4 under suspension of the rules. This is history, not a statement of what he would want now.
  • [Earlier record, excluded as misattributed] A December 2014 passage beginning "Israel's security should be our first priority but this includes more than just weapons funding", with a line about having visited Israel "almost a dozen times", has been attributed to him from page E1737 of the Congressional Record for December 4, 2014. It is not his. On that page the Israel passage sits at the top of the first column and is the end of the previous member's statement; Becerra's own statement begins below it, under his name, and is about the ABLE Act and disability savings accounts.

U.S. aid to Palestinians

  • [Position, 2024-05-28; as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, speaking for the United States] At the 77th World Health Assembly in Geneva he called for "a ceasefire agreement that leads to the release of hostages, a surge in humanitarian assistance into Gaza, and the road to a two-state solution." Source: the official transcript published by the U.S. Mission in Geneva. He did not name a sum, a channel or the United Nations relief agency.
  • Nothing located from his campaign on U.S. funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency or on Gaza humanitarian funding.

Characterization of the conflict

  • [Position, 2026-05-08; as a candidate] CalMatters asked each leading candidate, "Do you consider Israel’s actions in the war in Gaza a genocide?" His full answer, from the CalMatters transcript: "I think what the Netanyahu government has done in Israel cannot be classified as within international norms. I think the number of people who died in Gaza during the Israeli action was extreme. I think Netanyahu should answer for all he has done before the international community." CalMatters first published the answers in a video on 2026-05-08 (its clip); the written transcript page was posted on 2026-05-29. JNS reported the same words on 2026-05-18 (JNS).
  • [Position, 2024-05-28; as health secretary] In the same Geneva speech: "That is why the tragic, avoidable loss of life and cycle of destruction and dislocation between Israel and Palestine [Israelis and Palestinians] must stop immediately. We need a ceasefire agreement that leads to the release of hostages, a surge in humanitarian assistance into Gaza, and the road to a two-state solution." A department spokesperson told the Jewish Exponent that he "misspoke and was not recognizing Palestine as an independent state" and that he "was discussing the dire humanitarian conditions on the ground in Gaza as a result of Hamas’s attack on Oct. 7". The transcript now carries "[Israelis and Palestinians]" as a bracketed correction.
  • [Position, 2026-06-02; a third party, not his words] A political science lecturer quoted by JNS described him and the mayor of Los Angeles as "status quo Israel supporters but without strong connections". Recorded here as one analyst's view.
  • [Position, 2026-05-10; a misquotation, not used] An opinion column in FrontPage Magazine put in quotation marks words attributed to his CalMatters answer: "what Israel did is not within international norms and it should not be part of the community of nations". Those words are not in the CalMatters transcript, which is quoted in full above. The column's version is not his.
  • [Position, 2026-05-15; not traced, not used] A newsletter post on Substack describes "one circulated interview clip" in which, asked about the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, he says that group has not contributed directly to him and that "the Netanyahu government has really changed the character of Israel." The post gives no address for the clip and none was found. Nothing on this card rests on it.

Related rhetoric and lobbying

  • [Position, 2025-05-06] He spoke at a Jewish Public Affairs Committee gathering in Sacramento. The Los Angeles Times quotes him praising the Jewish community in California, "with action, with advocacy, with hearts." The report carries nothing from him on the war or on U.S. aid.
  • [Position, 2026-02-26] He was eligible and invited, and did not attend, the Jewish California Governor Candidate Forum at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles (J. The Jewish News of Northern California, Jewish Insider, JNS, the Forward, the Times of Israel). The organizers told JNS that the three invitees who did not come had "scheduling conflicts."
  • [Read 2026-10-02] Endorsements. His campaign's endorsement list names no organization this site tracks as backing or opposing weapons for the government of Israel. Among its Democratic clubs is Muslim Democrats of Southern California, a regional Democratic club; no position is inferred from it. CalMatters' guide lists the California Faculty Association, Equality California and Planned Parenthood California as his endorsers. The California Faculty Association, which describes itself as a union of 29,000 faculty members at the California State University, endorsed him on 2026-02-19 after grading candidates' questionnaires and holding interviews. Jewish Insider reports that a questionnaire from "a union representing thousands of professors and lecturers in the California State University system" asked candidates to say they would refuse donations from AIPAC and JPAC. His answers to the association's questionnaire are not published. The California Jewish Democrats' elections page lists his candidacy as "IN PROCESS". No endorsement from AIPAC, the Democratic Majority for Israel, J Street or any other group on this question was found.

Safety and antisemitism (context, not a position on what America sends)

  • [Reaction window, 2023-10-12; as health secretary] The Jewish Exponent reports that on October 12, 2023 he wrote that he had spoken with Israel's health minister, offered condolences for the victims of the attack, and reaffirmed U.S. solidarity with the government and people of Israel. This item is on the research page only.
  • [Position, 2024-05-23 and 2024-09-19; letters to him, not his words] Republican House committee chairs wrote to him as health secretary about how universities receiving NIH grants were handling antisemitic harassment (May letter; September follow-up). The September letter quotes a reply sent on his behalf by the department's Assistant Secretary for Legislation on 2024-08-22, saying its civil rights office "takes this duty seriously."

What the campaign site and his own pages say

  • [Position, read 2026-10-02] His campaign site lists its own 65 addresses in its index; 61 are its own pages and opened, and the other four point to news sites. The priorities pages cover the economy and affordability, energy and utilities, consumer protection and innovation, fighting Donald Trump, disaster preparedness, housing, a daily "Power Hour" of free electricity, health care, artificial intelligence, homelessness, the film industry and wildfires. A search of every page for Israel, Gaza, Palestinian, Jewish, antisemitism, Hamas, genocide, Netanyahu, AIPAC, weapons and foreign aid finds nothing beyond site-wide menus on reposted news articles. The pages carry no date and are recorded on the date we read them.
  • [Read 2026-10-02] Ballotpedia records that he has not completed its 2026 Candidate Connection survey.

The race

  • [Read 2026-10-02] Ballotpedia: "Xavier Becerra (D) and Steve Hilton (R) are running in the general election for governor of California on November 3, 2026. They advanced from the top-two primary on June 2, 2026. In the primary, Becerra received 28% of the vote and Hilton received 25%. Incumbent Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is term-limited."
  • [Position, 2026-09-30] The two candidates' only scheduled debate was on CNN from its Burbank studio, moderated by Jake Tapper and Dana Bash (CalMatters). The accounts read for this card, from CalMatters, CNN's live coverage, CNN's takeaways, CBS Los Angeles and The Hill, cover affordability, taxes, immigration, AI, voter identification and President Trump, and none mentions Israel or Gaza. No full transcript of the debate was found.
  • [Position, 2026-02-26] Of the state Democratic Party convention held the previous weekend, KQED reported that none of the candidates for governor mentioned Israel or Gaza.
  • Voter guides. The CalMatters guide is the only one found that put a question on the war to the candidates. KQED's guide to the race covers neither Israel nor Gaza. iVoterGuide's page for the November race lists both candidates with no profile or answers. Ballotpedia's survey was not completed.
  • Hilton's record belongs on his own card and is not narrated here.

Places that could not be read, so nothing is claimed from them

  • His X account, https://x.com/XavierBecerra : the profile opens, the posts need a signed-in reader. The Facebook page the record lists, https://www.facebook.com/BecerraforAttorneyGeneral , was not readable. Their addresses are printed here so anyone who can open them may look.
  • The health department's own copy of the May 2024 speech, https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2024/05/28/remarks-hhs-secretary-becerra-77th-world-health-assembly.html , refused our request; the U.S. Mission's copy opened and is the one quoted.
  • Vote411's California guide answers are served only through an address lookup and could not be read.
  • The interview clip described in the Substack post above has no address and was not found.

Not on the card, and why

  • His December 2014 Congressional Record attribution: misattributed, as set out above.
  • His September 2016 vote on H.Res. 729: earlier record, kept in the deep dive as history only.
  • His October 2023 message to Israel's health minister: reaction window, research page only.
  • The FrontPage Magazine wording and the Substack clip: one is a misquotation and the other could not be traced.
  • An analyst's description of him in JNS: a third party's view, not his words.
  • His May 2025 remarks in Sacramento and the 2024 House committee letters: context about the Jewish community and campus safety, not about what America sends.
  • His endorsers: no organization on the question; no position is inferred from an endorsement.

Sources retrieved for this card (address; opened or could not open; date)

  • https://calmatters.org/california-voter-guide-2026/governor/videos/transcripts/ (opened; 2026-10-02; page published 2026-05-29)
  • https://calmatters.org/california-voter-guide-2026/governor/videos/ (opened; 2026-10-02; page published 2026-05-14)
  • https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kdukkyAcdP0 (opened; 2026-10-02; the page's own data gives publication on 2026-05-08; the video was not watched)
  • https://www.jns.org/news/u-s-news/dems-running-to-be-next-california-governor-ignoring-jew-hatred-cancer-within-their-party-steve-hilton-tells-jns (opened; 2026-10-02; published 2026-05-18)
  • https://geneva.usmission.gov/2024/05/28/remarks-by-hhs-secretary-becerra-at-the-77th-world-health-assembly/ (opened; 2026-10-02; published 2024-05-28)
  • https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2024/05/28/remarks-hhs-secretary-becerra-77th-world-health-assembly.html (could not open; 2026-10-02)
  • https://www.jewishexponent.com/hhs-secretary-becerra-misspoke-at-world-health-assembly-when-seeming-to-recognize-palestine/ (opened; 2026-10-02; published 2024-05-28)
  • https://jweekly.com/2026/02/27/candidates-for-ca-governor-vow-to-keep-jews-safe-and-israel-ties-strong/ (opened; 2026-10-02; published 2026-02-27)
  • https://www.jns.org/u.s.-news/at-jewish-forum-for-california-governor-candidates-a-range-of-views-on-israeli-gov (opened; 2026-10-02; published 2026-03-02)
  • https://jewishinsider.com/2026/02/california-gubernatorial-debate-israel-antisemitism/ (opened; 2026-10-02; published 2026-02-28)
  • https://forward.com/fast-forward/808600/antisemitism-emerges-as-a-defining-issue-in-2026-california-governors-race/ (opened; 2026-10-02; published 2026-02-27)
  • https://www.timesofisrael.com/antisemitism-emerges-as-a-defining-issue-in-california-gubernatorial-race/ (opened; 2026-10-02; published 2026-02-28)
  • https://ballotpedia.org/California_gubernatorial_election,_2026 (opened; 2026-10-02)
  • https://ballotpedia.org/Xavier_Becerra (opened; 2026-10-02)
  • https://www.xavierbecerra2026.com/ and the 61 pages in its own index (opened; 2026-10-02)
  • https://www.xavierbecerra2026.com/endorsements/ (opened; 2026-10-02)
  • https://calmatters.org/california-voter-guide-2026/governor/ (opened; 2026-10-02)
  • https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/09/california-general-election-gubernatorial-debate-cnn/ (opened; 2026-10-02)
  • https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/30/politics/live-news/california-governor-debate-midterms (opened; 2026-10-02)
  • https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/30/politics/takeaways-cnn-california-governor-debate-becerra-hilton (opened; 2026-10-02)
  • https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/xavier-becerra-steve-hilton-california-governor-debate/ (opened; 2026-10-02; published 2026-09-30)
  • https://thehill.com/homenews/6122170-becerra-hilton-california-governor-debate/ (opened; 2026-10-02; published 2026-10-01)
  • https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2016/roll504.xml (opened; 2026-10-02)
  • https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2014-12-04/pdf/CREC-2014-12-04-pt1-PgE1737-3.pdf (opened; 2026-10-02)
  • https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2025-05-08/california-gubernatorial-candidates-israel-palestine-villaraigosa-porter-yee-thurmond-becerra (opened; 2026-10-02; published 2025-05-08)
  • https://www.jns.org/news/u-s-news/california-primaries-could-signal-dem-partys-direction-on-israel-experts-say (opened; 2026-10-02; published 2026-06-02)
  • https://www.kqed.org/news/12074494/california-democrats-leave-governors-race-unsettled-as-gaza-fight-looms (opened; 2026-10-02)
  • https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/california/governor (opened; 2026-10-02)
  • https://www.frontpagemag.com/california-dem-frontrunner-accuses-israel-of-genocide/ (opened; 2026-10-02; published 2026-05-10)
  • https://greygalaxie.substack.com/p/the-power-audit-a-forensic-look-at (opened; 2026-10-02; published 2026-05-15)
  • https://www.calfac.org/cfa-makes-dual-endorsement-for-california-governor/ (opened; 2026-10-02; published 2026-02-19)
  • https://www.calfac.org/cfa-supports-governor-candidate-becerra-at-sacramento-state-rally/ (opened; 2026-10-02; published 2026-05-14)
  • https://www.dfi-ca.org/ELECTIONS (opened; 2026-10-02; undated)
  • https://energycommerce.house.gov/posts/e-and-c-e-and-w-republicans-press-hhs-secretary-becerra-on-preventing-civil-rights-violations-at-universities-receiving-nih-grants (opened; 2026-10-02; dated 2024-05-23)
  • https://energycommerce.house.gov/posts/e-and-c-e-and-w-republicans-issue-document-request-to-secretary-becerra-after-hhs-dodges-questions-on-protecting-students-from-antisemitism-on-campus (opened; 2026-10-02; dated 2024-09-19)
  • https://ivoterguide.com/race/30572/election/1454 (opened; 2026-10-02)
  • https://www.vote411.org/california (opened; 2026-10-02; candidate answers need an address lookup)
  • https://x.com/XavierBecerra (the profile opened, the posts did not; 2026-10-02)
  • https://www.facebook.com/BecerraforAttorneyGeneral (could not open; 2026-10-02)
  • This is a record of what was checked on 2026-10-02, not a claim that no statement exists anywhere.

Also in this race

  1. ✗ Steve Hilton (Republican)

All California 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.